Heroes of Dreamland, Book 3: Nintendo World
by ebearskittychan
Summary: (A crossover between Kirby, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, and Mario! Book 3 in the Heroes of Dreamland series. Rated PG for mild fantasy violence and some somewhat scary elements.) All of your favorite Nintendo games are real in Nintendo World, and it's closer than you think. But what happens when the heroes can't save the day? (Read the first chapter/my bio for a better summary!)
1. What If?

What if Mario really does save Peach from Bowser?

What if Kirby and Meta Knight really travel through Dreamland on grand quests?

What if there really is a place where anime-style people catch and train Pokemon?

What if Link, Zelda, and all the other elves really live in a real Hyrule?

What if all the badguys were real too?

What if these places, all of which are on a giant, star-shaped planet, were really built as a real place by Nintendo, in a dimension apart from our own?

What if video games were originally meant to be a real-life experience, where you would travel to amazing, whimsical lands and become the hero?

What if that's not how it works only because something went terribly wrong?

What if with every life you lose, every game-over you get when you play a game here, you bring this breathtaking place the tiniest bit closer to being plunged into a unspeakable evil?

What if time is running out?

And what if the heroes we all know and love_ cannot do anything to stop it?_

What if their only hope is the ones who are looked down upon and seen as useless?

A wannabe Pokemon trainer girl who's never caught a single Pokemon.

A young Elvin girl who can't hit the broad side of a castle with an arrow or sword.

A plain, simple, little Waddle Dee.

And a Toad.

These are this world's only hope. Will they be enough?

_Welcome, dear Reader, to the once-Planet Popstar, now known as Nintendo World._


	2. The Beginnings of A New World

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNintendo World, Year 5, (198-something in our world,) in Nintendo City:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario and Zelda's creator, the head of this project, hung down his head and sighed. "I know, all of you, I know. I do not want to leave the creatures we have made. I do not want to subject them to this Darkness. But what can we do? If we do not go, it will come for us," he reminded them wearily, speaking in Japanese./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby and Meta Knight's creator, the head of the Dreamland division, slammed his hands down on the table. "_-sama, I have spent the past ten years of my life on this project. I have spent the last five here. We cannot just leave these creatures in sadness, not when we are the ones that made them!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Tersely, the leader Ancient replied to his younger co-worker, "With all due respect, _-san, I can understand that. But I cannot allow any of my team to stay here."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A quiet, soft voice piped up, "I will stay."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of the scientists and artists at the table stared at the one who the voice came from. It was sweet little Baika, or 'plum blossom.' She had been the first of the 'manga-heads,' the affectionate term they used for the new race of people they had made. With idealistic proportions, huge eyes, and tiny noses, the name had been perfect for the race. They would be used to populate the Pokémon area./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She was a little bit short, but that was normal for female manga-heads. She had short dark-chocolate-brown hair that had a habit of falling into her huge violet eyes, and a quiet voice that sounded musical. Just like what a leading female character should be like./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The leader shook his head fiercely. "No. I forbid it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Otousan," she replied, giving a quick bow, "You made me to be the princess of this planet, to keep it under control. That means through the good and the bad. I cannot just leave my peoples because I am frightened. You can go back to your dimension, I will destroy the transporter so no one will ever come here." Smiling, she reassured him, "Besides, you gave me a regeneration drive just like you gave to all of the Guides. I will be fine. The Darkness may come to Nintendo City, but it cannot last forever. Someone will come and send it away, I trust in this completely."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The younger Ancient nodded. "I think that sounds like a plan. I do not wish to leave her either, but she is right."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sorrowful, the leader hid his face in his hands. "Very well, then. I suppose this means we will turn to plan B. We tried to create a world where people could come have fun and be the hero, with Guides to help them along the way. But all we have made is a wasteland, filled with Darkness."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Darkness is not our fault. It is the fault of the rival scientists, the ones who wanted to make their worlds first. They could not figure out our technology, however, so they got their revenge," the younger one reminded him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"One of the other scientists crossed his arms. "That is true. When we return to Japan in our dimension, we must destroy all evidence of how we made this world. We will then use the Guides as the heroes in games for people to play from the safety of their homes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Meeting adjourned," the leader ordered simply. As everyone got up and moved toward the transporter, he walked to a window and gazed mournfully out. The Darkness was moving slowly toward the island city over the ocean. "All of the points are now covered. It is over."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's not over, Otousan," Baika told him with a smile. "It's only beginning."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling weakly back, he went to the transporter. "Take care of yourself, Baika-chan."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course, Otousan. You take care of yourself, as well. May your days be filled with Light."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as the last of them were gone, Baika sighed and entered the code to have the transporter self-destruct and left the room. All of her pets were sitting just outside in the castle hallway, sad and nervous./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Chin up, Deedee. We'll be all right," she gave her Waddle Dee pet a hug and adjusted the little crown on his head. He nodded once, determined to stay strong for his princess./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, now, Pikapika," she reassured her Pichu with a smile. "No crying allowed." The little Pichu nodded and sniffled, swiping her paws across her face to get rid of her tears./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ruff, that goes for you, too," she ordered the Goomba member of the gang. With a snort, he nodded once./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And you, Nya-chan," she giggled, turning to her Remlit friend, "will keep us all smiling. Right?" The cat-like creature gave a half-hearted purr in reply to her owner./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, all of you, let us face the Darkness bravely," Baika declared, putting on a brave smile as she threw open the nearest bay window in the castle and stuck her face out. Inhaling the scent of the salty sea air, she smiled, even as the Darkness drew closer. "Help will come soon."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"************************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNintendo City, Year 30/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Please, all of you, order," Baika shouted in her still-soft way. The Guides all stopped their arguing and turned and looked at her. "Thank you. Now, we know how this works. When I call your name, please respond. Popopo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Here, Princess Baika," the pink marshmallow-like Guide from Dreamland nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good. Jumpman?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's-a me!" the Mushroom Kingdom's Guide called out in a over-exaggerated Italian accent. He was a slightly overweight brown-haired guy with a large mustache and bright red overalls. He wasn't really a manga-head, he was closer to being an original Human in appearance than the manga-heads were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hero?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a smile, Hyrule's blond-haired, blue-eyed Elvin Guide nodded silently. For whatever reason, he seldom talked. Baika liked him, but she would never admit it. It was probably the ears, but whatever./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And, last but not least, Rival. What is your name, again?" Baika asked with a teasing smile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, shut up," the dark-blue-haired, green-eyed manga-head Guide from the Pokémon point huffed in a slightly arrogant way. "That's the Prof's job, not yours. And present."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We are all here," Baika said solemnly, "to discuss a major problem. All of the points are fighting. The Darkness was eventually banished from each point by several new races, but now, we are filled with war. Each point says it is the best, each point says its creatures are superior. What shall we do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Jumpman shook his head, crossing his arms and sighing. "If-a only things had-a worked the way the-a Ancients had wished."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Popopo nodded in agreement. "The way things were supposed to go, we would have just been Guides. It was to be our job to show the visiting 'heroes' their way around, help them enjoy their time here. We were each blessed with a regeneration drive, just like all the 'heroes' would have been, that makes it so that if we are killed during gameplay, we reappear at the nearest safe spot. It also makes it so that when injured, we feel tired, rather than feeling pain."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We know all this, super-tuff-pink-puff," Rival snorted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning, Popopo shrank into his seat. "Sorry. It's not my fault I was made to be a walking, talking instruction manual."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika nodded. "But now, you are each a leader of one of the five points. The points of Hyrule, Dreamland, the Mushroom Kingdom, and Pokémonland."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And then there's the fifth point, the Forbidden. No one is to go there. And we're in Nintendo City, in the center of the ocean that covers most of the planet and marks the inside border of each of the points of this star-shaped planet," Rival murmured in a nasally voice as he rolled his eyes. "Yada yada yada. We all know this already!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This whole planet, Planet Popstar, was created as a place for people to have fun. But that will never be. I wonder how things are in the Home Dimension, if their plan to make games worked?" Baika pondered aloud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, I bet. All the code books they left for their future games, they're all slowly turning out to act as prophecy books. Someday there's gonna be a great hero in Dreamland named Kirby," Popopo told her. "I won't be the greatest anymore."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Same here," Jumpman grumbled. "I'm-a being replaced by a plumber named a-Mario."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm just completely overshadowed by all the Trainers. I'm just Rival. And Hero over there is going to be replaced by some Elvin kid named Link," Rival yawned, leaning back in his chair. "By the way, Baika, have I mentioned how cute you are today?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Save the pathetic attempts to win my favor for later, Rival," Baika snorted. "At least I am not to be replaced. Unlike you four, I was also gifted with an immortality drive. I am not truly immortal, but I will last much longer than any of you, even with your long lifespans. Well, all of you except Rival, of course."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's my luck, being too much like the Ancients. Why do we have to call them that, anyway?" Rival grumped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Because I'm the princess, and I said so," Baika giggled. "Besides, it will help ensure continuity between the different points' histories."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Anyways, this is not-a what-a we came-a here to talk about-a," Jumpman reminded them all./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Right," Baika agreed. "So, what should we do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Hero tapped her shoulder and made her jump. "Oh, Hero-kun- um, I mean Hero-san, of course," she blushed. "What is it?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Standing up, he took the map of Planet Popstar off the wall and tore it into six pieces, separating the points and the center from each other. He then placed each piece in a different place in the room, and set the center piece on the middle of the circular table they were all seated around. Sitting back down silently, he looked back to her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, we could do that. Separation would definitely keep them from fighting each other," Baika nodded once. "But that is not all what the Ancients intended. And the histories will get mixed up. Before you know it, I bet you that hardly anyone will remember the Ancients."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's going on now is not at all what the Ancients intended. And besides, isn't that forgetting part a good thing?" Rival sneered. "They kind of failed."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it," Hero said softly in one of his rare speaking moments./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What-a is that supposed to a-mean?" Jumpman glared at the Elf, who just silently stared back with a smile that made it seem like he knew something the rest of them didn't./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I think it's a good plan," Popopo put in his two cents' worth. "Each point will have its own history, its own heroes, its own stories. If we ever need to bring them back together, Baika will be able to."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course," Baika agreed with a soft smile as Popopo grinned at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I just request that the Dreamland piece be changed to be star-shaped and continue to be known as Planet Popstar," Popopo added./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't see why not, Popopo," Baika assured him kindly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is it with that weirdo and his star-obsession, anyway?" Rival murmured to Jumpman, who chortled in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So, it's settled, then," Baika declared. "From now on, it will not be a star-shaped planet of adventure and dreams any longer. Our world will be in six different pieces. I just hope that, if it is someday needed, our division can be ended."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Give them some time to cool off, and things'll be fine," Popopo said in his optimistic way, completely sure of that fact./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very well. Do you four wish to stay here, in Nintendo City?" Baika questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Might as well," Rival sighed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I will stay," Popopo agreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Me a-too," Jumpman added./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Hero nodded silently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then I will do the deed," Baika sighed. Standing up, she closed her eyes and began to feel the Light energy in the air. In deep concentration, she imagined this pure energy going out and tearing the planet apart like a quilt at the seams. There would be earthquakes, some lives may be lost, but it was better than what would happen if this war was allowed to continue. Thankfully, the war was completely naval, so they wouldn't end up with Dreamlanders in the Mushroom Kingdom or the like./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as she was done, Baika wiped a couple of silent tears from her eyes. "Otousan's great masterpiece is now completely ruined," she whispered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, a chilling laugh filled the room. "You have done exactly as I wished," a deep, dark robotic voice said out of nowhere. "You have divided the points. And someday, I will be strong enough to attack. Your future 'heroes' are already stars in the Home Dimension, stars of their own games. But each time someone loses at one of these games, I become stronger. And when I come to destroy Nintendo World someday, these said 'heroes' will be powerless against me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Gasping, Baika demanded, "Then what can we do? If the heroes cannot save us, who can?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No one," this mysterious voice cackled, already fading. "No one will be able to help you pathetic creatures."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Princess Baika!" Popopo suddenly ordered. Being the first of the Star Warriors, he was very military-oriented, and it showed sometimes. "You must write a prophecy, and that's an order!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I cannot. If the heroes cannot help, who could? How can I write a prophecy if any heroes cannot help?" she panicked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then how about you have the losers be the ones to stop it?" Rival suggested with a snort./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rival, you are a genius. The losers, the failures, the ones considered worthless. They can help us, they are not heroes!" she laughed, slightly crazy due to stress. "I will write a prophecy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Her eyes began to glow the color of pure starlight as she let the One in Control take over. She pulled out a piece of parchment from under the table and quickly wrote,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNever before has our world been/embr /emIn such desperate need. The only hope for us/embr /emNow is four. They will be the ones you least expect, /embr /emThe worst ones at what they do. They will be/embr /emElvin, Manga-head, Mushroom Kingdomer, and Dreamlander./embr /emNo one will be willing to accept it. They will not listen./embr /emDo not fear, however. With the helpless heroes to guide them, these four will usher in/embr /emOur greatest day./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Nice," Rival commented as her eyes returned to their normal violet. "I like how it spells out 'Nintendo.'"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I only hope it is enough. The One in Control knows what he is doing, this I trust," Baika murmured sadly as she rolled it up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The One in Control? You mean the Star Power," Popopo disagreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, the One Who Made the Galaxies," Jumpman corrected him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Greatest One," Hero said softly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Creator," Rival snorted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Baika calmed them, "He is all of those. He made the Home Dimension, and when the Ancients failed with ours, he sent his own creations to save us. The Star Warriors in Dreamland. The Legendary Pokémon in Pokémonland. The Lumas in the Mushroom Kingdom. And the one who is known as the 'Goddess' in Hyrule."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""A comment on her beauty, not her divinity," Hero assured her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know," Baika nodded. "Point being, he is in charge. He will take our brokenness and turn it into something great."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So, what do we do now?" Popopo asked eagerly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika gave a tiny smile. "Hurry up and wait, my marshmallow friend. Hurry up and wait."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAnd so they did, for about eight hundred long years./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongA.N. The two 'Ancients' were originally named after real people, but due to FanFiction rules, I had to change that. That's why there's no names for them now. ;^^ Sorry about that!/strong/p 


	3. The Points Rejoined

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNintendo City, Year 830:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika smiled and yawned as she looked out an open castle window onto the shining city below. A soft breeze stirred the plain white, lacy curtains, bringing with it all the pleasant smells of a warm fall day near the sea. Nintendo City really was a beautiful place, creatures from each of the original points lived here, except for the Forbidden Point, of course. This was the one place that had been part of the once-huge planet where all the different creatures lived in harmony. /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"From this window, she could see the town marketplace. A couple of young Star Warrior boys were happily 'dueling' a Skitty and a Togepi underneath the awning of their mother's vegetable booth. A few Waddle Dee were walking around the square, dusting and cleaning up the vendors' booths for the reward of a snack or a gold coin or two. Over at another booth, an Elvin lady was bartering with a couple of teenage girl Toads over the price of a Love Potion. Baika laughed lightly, feeling sorry for whatever lad it was to be used on./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All the hustle and bustle, chaotic, yet peaceful at the same time; gave her hope. Hope for the future. Hope that maybe someday, all the points could be like this./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She sighed and yawned again. Even with an immortality drive that kept her looking young, she was beginning to feel old. Hopefully, someday soon, her successor would arise./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rival had passed away around the Year 90, Jumpman was the next to go sometime in the mid 200's. Hero had left in 324, (yes, she actually recalled the exact year,) and Popopo had lasted clear till after 800. But now, they were all gone. She missed her friends, and was ready to join them, wherever they were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Her pets, on the other hand, seemed to remain forever young. She could no longer keep up with Deedee, Pikapika, Ruff, and Nya as they ran throughout the castle. Due to this, they had all four become a bit spoiled over the centuries. It mattered not, she loved them all anyway./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Deedee flew into the room. He was sort of her scribe, he took notes for her and also acted as the castle messenger. Seeming panicked, he grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and squealed, "Dwee!" He then frantically scribbled down, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What?" she gasped. "What on earth are you talking about? Who would attack emus/em?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's someone I don't recognize. He's freaky," Deedee wrote, then adjusted the little crown on his head with a vain sniff./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika frowned as dark clouds began to cover the sky. Down below in the marketplace, people began to nervously close up shop./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And then, in the next instant, something flew out of the sky and in through the window. "Ah, Princess Baika. Pleasure to meet you," a large, white, glove-like hand laughed at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shuddering, she replied, "Who are you? You cannot be the evil that spoke to me all those years ago. Your voice is not the same."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Cackling, the hand replied, "That matters not. I am Master Hand, and I have come to take over your castle."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika closed her eyes and imagined the Light energy in the air trapping this hand in place. "Uh-uh-uh! Sorry, Princess. Light doesn't work on me," Master Hand informed her in dark pleasure. "Now, I am going to put you in your own dungeon."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It is time," Baika simply stated as the Master Hand trapped her in the same sort of force-field she was going to use on him. Only, this one was made of Dark energy rather than Light./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Time for what?" the other asked in frustration./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Not answering him, Baika closed her eyes again. "The points must be brought back together!" She imagined the Light going out into the far reaches of the galaxy and bringing all of the points back to where they belonged. She had been dreaming of this day for so long./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as the deed was done, she turned to Deedee. "You must go to Pokémonland and find the non-hero there. She will lead you to the others. May your days be filled with Light!" she ordered as Master Hand led her force-field out of the room and toward the dungeon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee nodded once. He quickly air-hopped out the window and to the ocean, then jumped in. Floating like a beach ball, (*bob, bob,*) he began to make his way to the Pokémonland point. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance as his crown fell off and sank. Great, now no one would know he was a royal. How would he earn this failure's respect, if he just looked like a regular, stupid, simple, pathetic, Waddle Dee? Oh well, that was the least of his problems./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nintendo City was taken, and there hadn't even been a fight. This was rather... pathetic. He just hoped that the other pets were okay. And, of course, that Princess Baika was all right, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"****************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emMeanwhile, in the other points:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*****************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Courtyard of Peach Castle:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario groaned and stood up. All he could remember was defeating Bowser and sending him into a small planet made of lava. Then, he had been flying with Peach, but then the universe had begun to implode. The Lumas had saved them, and then he had spoken to Rosalina. And now.../p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He grinned as he suddenly realized he was back in the Mushroom Kingdom. But something was different... It all seemed... bigger, somehow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"No matter. Laughing joyfully as he saw that the others around him were fine; Peach, Luigi, and even Bowser, he shouted out, "Welcome! Welcome, new galaxy!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"**********************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDreamland, in the vicinity of Castle DeDeDe:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight sighed in impatience. "Please, Kirby Dee. Could you at least try to concentrate?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was a crisp fall day in Dreamland, and he was training his current pupil, a girl Waddle Dee with Star-Warrior powers. Normally, she was a good student. Her dueling abilities were even beginning to slowly rival his. But today, well. emThat/em was a different story./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry, Sir Knight," she blushed and rubbed her head with the hand she held her sword in, then blushed deeper as she realized how air-headed of a thing to do that was. "I just... The apple harvest is going on, and apples are my favorite food, and I want to be helping, and all I can think of is apple cobbler and apple pie and apple crisp and apple-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling his eyes, he retorted, "I am well aware of that, my pupil. But a warrior must be able to concentrate on whatever task is at hand."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Giving him a Waddle Dee 'smile,' which involved closing her eyes and tipping her head to one side, she suggested, "How about we make picking apples the task at hand?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. How about you-" he began, then was cut off by the ground starting to shake. "What in Dreamland? What is going on?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The shaking grew harder, causing both teacher and student to fall face-first into the freshly-mown grass they had been practicing swordplay in. And then it stopped, as quickly as it had begun. "What was that?" he wondered aloud, as he picked himself back up, dusted himself off, and adjusted his mask back to its proper place./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know," the Kirby Dee sighed mournfully in reply. "But apple harvest is over. Look at all the lovely apples that just got knocked off the trees onto the ground. They're all bruised now."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Well, at least now, maybe she would pay attention./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course, they'll still be good for apple cider and apple butter and apple sauce and apple-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then again, maybe not./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Masked Knight groaned in frustration. "If I hear the word 'apple' one more time, I swear on Galaxia that I will-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Apple. Apple! Apple apple, apple-y apple!" she laughed at him teasingly, sheathing her simple practice sword./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He sighed and gave up. She was quite mature most of the time, but due to the fact that she had never gotten to be a kid, she had the occasional immature moment. And, he refused to admit it, but he found these moments somewhat amusing. "What am I going to do with you, Kirby Dee?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Let me go help in the kitchen? Please, Sir Knight? I promise I'll concentrate on lessons tomorrow!" she pleaded, making her chestnut eyes as big as possible./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a chuckle of amusement, he agreed, "Very well. But I should not be rewarding such behavior."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks! See you later!" she giggled and ran off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He watched her run off, then turned to the ocean and frowned. "The ground shook... On a crisp fall day. That sounds like a prophecy I have read before. I must away to my library." Letting his Dimensional Cloak turn into wings, he took off toward the castle. Something else was happening, and this was not a good time. Already, he had a giant lightning monster to look forward to, and he had his hands full training the future heroine he had been with minutes before. Well, even if he had a full plate, at least things were definitely not dull at the moment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*****************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emProf. Oak's Lab, Pallet Town:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Welcome, Trainers. You're all excited, I know. Today you will receive your first Pokémon. We all know how this works, the ones who did the best on the tests will get to pick first, and then we'll move down from there," Professor Oak chortled at the excited group of kids around him. Most of them were ten, but there were a few elevens and twelves as well who had failed the test the first time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was a beautiful fall day outside, all of the leaves were turning such lovely, bright colors. All of the lab windows were open, letting a fresh breeze in./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Each kid came forward and picked a Pokémon, and after about ten minutes, he had taken care of all of the around-twenty of them. "Good, for once there were enough to go around," he began, then drooped as one last girl came up to him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are there any left, Professor? I'm old enough now that I don't need to pass the test to have a license," 15-year-old Rose pleaded. "I just need a Pokémon!" She was a really pretty manga-head, around four-and-a-half feet tall, just like most girls her age. She had short brown hair and brown eyes, the sort of eyes that always told you what she was feeling. Just like any other girl her age, she wore a variant of the common Trainer's garb: A red windbreaker over a white t-shirt, a denim skirt, and a pair of red-white-and-blue sneakers, with a matching large bow in her hair. But just because she was dressed like a Trainer, didn't mean she actually was one./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You know the rules, Rose. If you don't pass, you can have a license anyway once you're fifteen, that's true. But you still don't get a free Pokémon. You have to catch your first one yourself, or get one from someone else," he reminded her sympathetically. Poor Rose was the most inept wannabe Trainer he had ever met. She was really smart, she had every Pokémon memorized. She knew all of the evolutions, all of the moves. If you gave her a random Pokémon name, she could tell you all of its stats off the top of her head. But when it came to actually doing anything in the field, she... well, failed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose hung her head down. "I am such a failure," she moaned, close to tears. Oak opened his mouth to try to say something helpful, but suddenly, the ground began to shake./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It began to shake even harder, causing everyone in the lab to fall flat on their faces. As soon as the earthquake was over, Oak shouted, "Everybody out! I have to research this!" All of his Aides rushed to close the windows and get all the equipment turned on./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Dragging her feet, Rose followed the other kids out and tried to ignore the laughter directed at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Look, Chu!" one ten-year-old snickered to his new Pikachu. "That's Rose. She's never going to be anything."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose is a loser!" an eleven-year-old girl agreed with a nasty giggle. "Even I only failed the tests once."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWho am I kidding? They're right./em Rose thought mournfully as she slid the lens-less eyeglasses she wore merely as a fashion statement farther up her teensy nose with her I guess I could accept Oak's offer he made awhile back. I could just move to the coast and start researching plants and stuff around there. It's the closest I'll ever come to being worth anything./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"***********************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHyrule Castle:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link grinned silently at Zelda, who laughed at him. "Hey, Link. What brings you to the castle? No monsters to vanquish today?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He glanced at the ground and shrugged, then offered her the flower he had brought. Zelda blushed and went to accept it, then was crashed into by a teenage Elvin girl whose father was the head of defense here at the castle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, I am so sorry, Princess Zelda!" this girl gasped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, Rinda," Zelda sighed and bent to help the girl pick up the load of broken potshards she had dropped. "Link, have you been randomly destroying pots again?" she demanded in irritation, standing back up and glaring at the other Elf./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link whistled innocently, looking anywhere but at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I thought as much. Rinda, you are the clumsiest person I've ever met," Zelda told her other companion, trying to remain calm and kind./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda had long hair that was so blond it was almost white. She was short for an Elf, and had brownish-grayish eyes that were very observant. She never missed a thing. She was a real sweetheart, everyone loved her. The only problem was, she was also very clumsy. Her parents had wanted her to eventually join the ranks of Hylian Heroes, but she couldn't even pick up a sword or bow without breaking something. "I am so sorry, your Highness. And yes, Link is the cause of the mess this time, although it could just have easily have been me," she murmured shyly, smiling at the one Hero among the three. She liked Link, and both Link and Zelda knew it. They just ignored it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Just then, the ground started to shake, causing poor Rinda to drop all the potshards again. "Oh, Remlit fur," she growled, bending to pick the pieces back up and being forced to fall onto her face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link and Zelda fell over too, but as soon as the shaking quit, they got back up. "I'd better go ask Father what this means," Zelda worried. Link nodded and went with her, leaving Rinda by herself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just lovely," she huffed at the scratches the potshards had left on her hands. "I hate myself. I'm pathetic, and useless, and I'll never be worth anything." Bitterly, she began to put the pieces back in the basket yet again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAnd so, the points were rejoined, although no one realized it. And time passed again, this time for only just over a year./em/p 


	4. The First of the Non-Heroes

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emPokémonland, Oak's Coastal "Research Center:"/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose blinked her eyes open as her alarm clock went off went an extremely annoying "MAGNEMITE! MAGNEMITE! MAGNEMITE!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Mlarg!" she groaned as she reached over and knocked the Pokémon-shaped device onto the floor. "How can it possibly be 8:00 already?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Falling off the bedside table wasn't enough to shut the clock up, so she eventually gave up and got out of bed. After shutting it off, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I hate mornings. Especially Monday mornings," she mumbled as she went to get ready for the day. She was 16 now, but nothing else had really changed about her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"About fifteen minutes later, she stumbled into the kitchen to find some breakfast. "Oh, daisies," she growled as she looked at the calendar that hung over the stove in the small apartment she lived in above the 'research center.' "Tomorrow's Oak's quarterly inspection. And, like always, I don't really have anything to show him. I've already categorized all the flora around here, he wants to learn more about the fauna. But that's impossible, when I emcan't catch any Pokémon/em!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After bitterly eating some cereal, she left the bowl and spoon in the sink and went downstairs. It was called a research center, but all it was was a Pokémon healing machine that she had only turned on for a passing Trainer once or twice, a library comprised of four bookshelves crammed with Pokémon books and magazines, a chalkboard with some advice for Trainers written on it, and a table and chair with a PC that Trainers could use to store Pokémon and stuff. (Although actually, it was mostly used by her to play games and write stories on. She also enjoyed a few webcomics, like Snorlax-Snorlax, Buneary Quest, and Push-skitty.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well," she sighed, pulling out her collection of never-filled Pokéballs. "I guess I should go try to catch something. For the bajillionth time. Even a Caterpie would be nice at this point!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She grabbed her thicker jacket, opting for it over her windbreaker. It was early winter, and although she lived by the ocean, there was still a bit of a chill in the air./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was a emlong/em morning. Like every other time she had tried, either she completely missed every Pokémon she threw a Pokéball at, or if she actually managed to hit it, it always just bounced right off. "How can I possibly be such a failure?" she moaned as she turned back to go have lunch after missing the same Rattata for the fifth time in a row./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But then she noticed something strange-looking over on the beach. "What's that? I'd better investigate," she murmured, and started to hurry over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"************************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee groaned mentally and lay down on the beach. In retrospect, he probably should have stolen a boat. He had been floating on the ocean, whichever way the currents carried him, for over a year. If it weren't for his immortality drive, he wouldn't have made it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh my gosh! What are you? Ohmigosh you're so cute! Ohmigosh I just want to hug you! Ohmigosh are you a new Pokémon?" a girl's voice started squealing not far from him. Oh, just lovely. He had managed to survive a year at sea only to be hugged to death. Was there no justice in the world?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee..." he groaned helplessly as he rolled over to see his would-be hug-attacker./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ohmigosh! I've discovered a new Pokémon! It's a 'Dwee!'" the girl continued to squeal as she picked him up and gave him a huge hug. "Oh, wait. You're a wild Pokémon! I'm not supposed to touch you! You could be dangerous!" she suddenly changed her tune, carefully setting him down again and backing up a few steps. "But how could you possibly be dangerous? You're so emadorable/em!" she murmured, kneeling down right in front of him. "Well, Dwee? Are you hungry or anything? Wait, you don't have a mouth, do you, Dwee? Can you eat? Well, I mean, you have to get energy somehow... Wait. Are you like a Lampent? Are you feeding off my life energy! That's so sneaky! You're so adorable, but you're destroying my soul as we speak, aren't you, Dwee?" she demanded, her voice going from sweet, to confused, to angry in a matter of seconds./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee looked at her in disbelief, then snorted, "Dwee." He turned and walked off, his nose stuck in the air./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" she told him. "Here, hold still. I just need to..." she suddenly brought a small red, white, and black sphere out from nowhere and tapped him on the head with it. Nothing happened./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Huh. That's weird. You're so close, you obviously have a low HP level. It's acting like you're not a Pokémon. This one must be defective," she muttered, pulling out another one. It still didn't work./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, you're the first real wild Pokémon I've even gotten this close to. I'm not leaving you here," she huffed, picking him up gently and walking off with him. "Here, you're going to come with me, Dwee."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDo I have a choice?/em he asked mentally, glaring straight ahead, as she was holding him so he faced away from her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wait until Prof Oak gets here tomorrow! I'll actually have a Pokémon to show him for once! And you're a new one, an undiscovered one! Do you have any idea how popular this'll make me? People won't die of laughter every time I'm mentioned anymore!" she laughed, slightly crazily. How can you blame her? She lived completely alone, hardly anyone ever came to visit her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWell, it looks like I've found the failure easily enough,/em Deedee mumbled in his head. emBut how in Nintendo City do I explain things to her?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as they got back to the 'research center,' Rose switched on the healing machine and set him on it. "You're supposed to be in a Pokéball, but this should work anyway," she assured him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He stared at her in horror as the machine starting making cheerful beeping noises. emWhat sort of madness is this?/em he pondered in terror. emWhat is she going to do to me?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Huh, that's weird," she muttered in confusion. "It's also acting like you're not a Pokémon. But if you're not a Pokémon, then what are you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee gave an internal sigh of relief as she turned the evil machine off. Apparently she had decided to spare him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He first began to notice his surroundings. This place was a disaster, it was so full of clutter! Clutter! He emhated/em clutter!/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Maybe he was spoiled, but he was still a Waddle Dee, and his obsessive-compulsive clean freak tendencies took over. He leapt off the machine and grabbed a broom, running around the place and cleaning like crazy./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose watched in disbelief. "So, you're not a Pokémon. But if you were, you'd be a Dwee, the... Clean Freak Pokémon? No, I'm pretty sure that's already taken..." she thought out loud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee ignored her, and after he had finished dusting everything, he attacked the mountains of clutter all over the place./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! That's where I want that!" she shouted, trying to stop him. He just ran between her legs and continued his furious tidying. "Argh! How will I be able to find anything, you little terror?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Glaring at her, he air-hopped up and whacked her in the back of the head with the feathery pen-thing he was using as a makeshift feather-duster. "Dee, dee dwee dwee dee, dwee!" he huffed at her, then resumed his work. emDon't you know how to treat a royal?/em he sneered at her internally, wishing she could hear him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Finally, the place was to his liking. "Well. Now that you've finished with that, what are you going to do next, Dwee?" she asked, still a bit irritated. Although, it was soooooo hard to stay mad at him when he was just. So. CUTE!/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He waddled around until he found the kitchen and kicked at the refrigerator door in answer. "Um, okay. Food. Food's good," she shrugged and opened it. "See anything you like?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emUgh. It's all just peasant's fare,/em he thought in a better-than-thou type of tone. emWell, I guess this stuff looks okay./em He grabbed a box and started eating the contents./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! You can't have that! That's my lo mein! I worked so hard on that!" she said, taking it away from him forcefully./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSeriously? It's come to this?/em he moaned to himself. emWell, all right then./em He let his eyes grow huge and let fake tears come out, looking up at her piteously. "Dwee," he whimpered, holding his hands out for the box like a baby would reach for a toy./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""D'aaaaw," she melted, giving him the box without another moment's hesitation. He quit the cute act instantaneously, waddling off with her food to her bedroom. Climbing into her bed, he ate the food and then started to fall asleep./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, that's enough. You're not taking my bed. You have to at least share," she ordered, hands on her hips./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He gave her a condescending look. emSorry, peasant, the bed is mine,/em he thought at her, not caring that she couldn't hear./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She eventually gave up getting him to leave and instead decided to fall asleep in an armchair. "Dwee. The Clean Freak, Spoiled Rotten, Conniving, Adorable Pokémon," she muttered in a Pokédex voice. "Dwee will steal your heart, your food, your bed, and probably your house if you let it. It also has OCD tendencies when it comes to cleanliness." Yawning, she finally dozed off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The next morning, she woke up late, due to the fact that she hadn't remembered to turn the alarm clock back on. "Oh, daisies," she hissed as she got up, still dressed from yesterday, and hurried to make herself look presentable./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Around ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in, Prof," she called down the stairs from where she was eating a cup of noodles in the kitchen. "Leave the food and supplies and stuff down there. Try to make it look cluttered, my new Pokémon will deal with it later."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"There was a thump from downstairs. "Oh, daisies," she squeaked. "Did I just make the Proffessor have a heart attack?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The answer was a resounding no, as he came thundering up the stairs like someone half his age. "emYou/em have a Pokémon?" he questioned excitedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sure do, Prof," she replied with a grin. "And it's a new kind, too." She set what was left of her cup of noodles down and led him to the bedroom area. "It's a Dwee, I think."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Well, Deedee was quickly met with a rude awakening, as Professor Oak yanked him up and began to inspect him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI hate you, peasants, /emDeedee thought bitterly. emWhen Princess Baika hears of my treatment, there will be punishment./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm. It definitely is a new variety of Pokémon, but how on earth did you, of all people, manage to catch it?" the Prof inquired dubiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well... I, uh... didn't actually catch it. I just brought it back here with me after I found it washed up on the beach. The Pokéballs won't react to it, they act like it's not a Pokémon," she told him, dragging the toe of her sneaker along the hardwood floor./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He frowned. "Does the old PC here still work, Rose?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, well, yeah?" she replied, confused. She had been expecting some sort of scolding and lecture about the dangers of touching wild Pokémon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very good. I'll need to access my digital library via PC to look up some things. This isn't a Pokémon. Get the little guy to tell you what he actually is. Have him play charades or something," the Prof suggested, handing her Deedee and hurrying back down the stairs, again like someone only half his age./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Is it bad that you're old enough to be my grandpa, yet you're more tech-savvy than I am? You can access your private digital library from here, and I can't even remember how to re-open an accidentally closed tab in my browser," she called after him, slightly jealous./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Professor Oak just laughed in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, Dwee. You heard the Prof," she sighed, carefully setting him back down on the ground. "What are you? Let's play charades."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee looked at her for a moment, then tapped the floor twice with his foot. "Two words?" she guessed. He nodded, then started waddling around in deliberate circles, staring at her the whole time. "Waddling? Waddler? Waddle?" she guessed, then grinned as he nodded frantically at the last one./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, so you're a Waddle... something. What's the second word?" she questioned. He hurried downstairs and came right back, carrying a book./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! I was using that, you little monster!" Professor Oak shouted up the staircase, sounding annoyed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose had to giggle. "All right, so what's the book for?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee flipped to a random page as Oak stormed back up to where these two were. He then started furiously tapping the letters " e" over and over again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, so you're a Waddle Deedeedeedeedeedee-" she tried, only to be whacked in the back of the head with the book. That's when Deedee noticed some clutter he somehow missed, so he dropped the book on the floor and went to pick it up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Busy little fella, isn't he?" Oak commented as Rose rubbed her throbbing head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah. He's so spoiled, he acts like a little princess. But at least he earns his keep, I guess," she sighed, picking the little terror up from where he was tidying, and setting him down on the bed. Handing him the book, she pleaded, "Please. Try again."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling his eyes, Deedee grabbed the book, flipped to a random page, and slowly tapped the letters "d e e."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So, you're a... Waddle Dee? Is that a Pokémon?" she wondered aloud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He shook his head and tap-spelled out, " r."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dreamlander?" Oak murmured. "A Waddle Dee... from Dreamland..." He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to remember something. "I know just the book we need to bring up and look at on the PC!" he yelped suddenly, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the stairs./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So what's a Waddle Dee?" she questioned, growing concerned at his sudden tension./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't remember, but it means something big. And probably bad. If I remember right, of course," Professor Oak answered. "I must research this immediately!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAnd so, the first non-hero was found./em/p 


	5. We're Not The Only Ones Out There, Rose

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emPokémonland, Oak's Coastal Research Center:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose sat in the wooden kitchen chair she had brought down from upstairs, trying to stay awake. Oak had eventually found the book he was looking for after they had fought a great battle against her PokéNet connection, but it had been in a different language. A language that the Prof could read, if he took his time, but it just looked like a bunch of swirly lines to her. So, therefore, they hadn't learned much so far./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Here we go!" he now finally shouted excitedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She sprang out of her chair and came over. "What's it?" she asked with a grin./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, look. There's our little friend here," he said, pointing to a drawing of a creature that looked like her Dwee. "And, sure enough, he's a Waddle Dee. Says they're typically servants."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ohmigosh, what's that one?" she squealed, pointing to a drawing of a creature similar to Dwee. But this one had a mouth and a different face shape. "It's so cute! Ohmigosh, I want one!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oak looked at her, bemused. "Says that's a Star Warrior. A kind of brave hero. Probably wouldn't take as kindly to your appreciation of its adorableness as our Waddle Dee does."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Drat," she muttered, crossing her arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oak flipped the page, and on this page were people that looked kind of like themselves, but were really different at the same time. "They look like characters out of a fairytale. Look at how small their eyes are. And look at their ears," Rose commented, pointing to how said ears came to a point./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm. These are... Elves," Oak said slowly as he translated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So, all of these creatures are somewhere here in Pokémonland?" Rose gasped, amazed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. It says that they're all on different... points. I'm not sure what a 'point' is, though, or how Waddle Dee got here," the Professor replied./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Keep reading. This is cool," Rose ordered, bouncing up and down on her toes behind his desk chair./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right." Oak flipped the page again. On this page were a few people, some turtles, some mushrooms, and weird critters that looked like toadstool people. "The book also says that Waddle Dee came from the Dreamland point, that the Elves are from the Hyrule point, and that these critters are from the Mushroom Kingdom point. If I'm translating correctly, of course. The Ancients used a different language from ours, as I'm sure you've noticed."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Ancients? Oak, you know as well as I do that the Ancients are just a myth," Rose snorted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not true, Rose. Not true. The Ancients really did form our world, a long time ago. We just don't know that much about them," Prof Oak corrected her. "I've only flipped through this book a few times, but I decided it was important enough to scan and add to the digital library."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But we still don't know what a 'point' is. Or why Dwee is here."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee suddenly woke up for a moment from where he was sleeping on a windowsill and air-hopped over, looking at the screen. He suddenly tapped a piece of the screen, then went back to his windowsill and went back to sleep./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose gasped as she looked at what Deedee had pointed to. "Prof, look there!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""There! In the corner of the page. It says... Rose," she murmured, surprised./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So it does. It must be a coincidence, however. I mean, after all-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ignoring him, Rose began to read the text printed next to her name. It wasn't in her language, but she somehow knew what it said. "I am the non-hero from Pokémonland. I hereby swear to protect Nintendo World, even if it means my life?" she read in a bit of a scared voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was as if she had spoken a spell, as the screen suddenly changed to a simple star-shaped map. As if it was being written down, each point had two names appear beside it. The first to appear was the top point. "Pupupurando," Oak murmured./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dreamland," Rose breathed as the English came up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The next point to appear was a script neither of them recognized. But as soon as their language appeared, Rose read, "Hyrule."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Next was "Kinoko Okoku," or so Oak said./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Mushroom Kingdom," Rose grinned. This was emso/em cool./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pokemonrando."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pokémonland. That's us!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oak nodded. "But what's the last point?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"In large, dark letters, the script started to appear. "Kinshi?" Oak read./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Forbidden," Rose finished. "That sounds ominous."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And then, another star appeared in the center, just a small island compared to the size of the points. "Nintendo Shi," the Prof whispered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Nintendo City. What's 'Nintendo' mean?" Rose asked, fascinated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""There's several ways to translate that. I guess a good one would be, 'The Hall of Entrusting Heaven,'" Oak told her. "That island seems to be the capitol city on this map."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Rose reminded him, "But, Professor. This map... It can't be accurate. Surely we would have run into the other points before!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You would think so, wouldn't you? But look, the only way to get to them is by water. We don't explore very far out into the ocean, and-" more script suddenly started to appear on screen. This time, it was in their language to start with./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Nintendo World, Year 30. My dear Rose,'" Rose read, then her eyes grew wide. "This is kind of creepy. How does this person know my name?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Keep reading!" Oak urged, excited./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay. 'My dear Rose, you are the first of the non-heroes. Your point has always seen you as a failure.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, that's nice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'But you are not. You are going to help save our world from a great evil. I cannot explain everything now, but it will all be revealed in time. All you need to know now is that your land was originally part of the map seen above. But due to warfare between the points, because each point considered itself superior to the others, they were torn apart. All the points will have forgotten each other completely by the time you read this, but they will have also finally been rejoined again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You must travel to the point of Hyrule, and find the next non-hero there. Be warned: those considered heroes where you live will be powerless against the coming evil. You will have to face it yourself with the other three non-heroes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""May your days be filled with Light, and may the- how do they say it there? ah, yes- the Creator be with you. Yours truly, Princess Baika, ruler of Nintendo World,'" Rose finished. "Prof, this can't possibly be true. I mean, none of these creatures look like anything I've ever seen. It's nonsense."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then how do you explain him?" Oak asked, pointing to Dwee/Deedee./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But, Professor. It can't be right. I mean, like it says, I'm a failure. I can't save anyone from anything. I couldn't even save myself from a wild Bulbasaur's vine whip a month or two ago," Rose argued. "How in the daisies could she expect me to be a non-hero, whatever that is?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Professor Oak shrugged. "I don't know, but it sounds like you're finally starting your Journey. Although it's not a regular Journey, I'll give you that. I don't think you'll be able to do much of anything, either-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gramps."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But you have to go. I'll call Ash on his Pokégear, he'll go with you. You'll need a water Pokémon to travel on. Let me see..." he suddenly started to think aloud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You can't be serious, Professor!" Rose yelped. "I can't go! I'm just Rose!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You are going, and that's an order, Missy. Or I'll tell your mother you aren't helping as much as you said you would, and she'll make you go home. You go home now, you're a loser. You go and try to stop this evil, if you make it back, you're a hero," he reminded her. "Think about it, Rose. This is even greater than a Trainer's Journey. Rather than just going out to see all the Pokémon there are, you're going out to see things like Waddle Dee, and Elves, and Star Warriors, and whatever those toadstool people were. Do you have any idea how many people would emkill/em to go on a Journey like that?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning, Rose realized he was right. This was the chance of a lifetime, and not just any lifetime. "Well... Why does Ash have to go with me?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Because it's dangerous to go alone," Oak replied, like it was obvious./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""If it was Ash, you'd let him go alone, and he's younger than me. He's what, 11 now?" Rose grumped with a pout and her arms crossed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I think that's right. 12 in... I'm not sure. He just seems to never get any older, does he?" the Professor chortled. "And maybe that's true, but he has Pokémon to take care of him. And now, you do too," he told her, handing her three Pokéballs out of his bag of Pokémon and files and stuff. "Take care of these three, they're good friends of mine."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, sure. emNow/em you let me have free Pokémon," she huffed, although she was really excited. "All right, you three. I... choose you guys?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The three Pokémon came out. "Lapras!" the first shouted cheerfully./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachirisu!" the next giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Psyduck," the last droned as it walked into a wall./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ohmigosh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Rose squealed, giving Oak a huge hug which he shrugged off in annoyance. "Although... is that Psyduck okay?" she added dubiously, as it hadn't quit trying to walk into the wall yet./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee woke up again and looked at it incredulously. "Dwee?" he asked it cautiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Psyduck," it droned back, whether in reply or just for the heck of it, I guess we'll never know./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee," Deedee rolled his eyes. He stood up and crossed his little arms, looking at Rose as if to say, "Well? What's going on?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, Dwee, I'm going off on an adventure. To someplace called Hyrule, where Elves live," Rose grinned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oak started to call Ash on his Pokégear over and over until he finally woke up and answered. "What, Prof? I'm sort of trying to sleep here. I'm back in Pallet Town for the Winter Festival."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, you need to get out to the coastal research center as quick as possible. Go to my lab, we've got a prototype of something that should get you here real fast," the Professor ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That sounds... safe," Ash replied wearily over the phone, which was on speaker. "Whatever. Give me awhile, Prof. It's the middle of the night."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Make it snappy, Ash!" Oak said in a warning tone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They waited for about an hour, which Rose used to get the Pokémon used to following her orders. They didn't really want to listen to her, which wasn't a surprise, seeing as how she wasn't their Trainer./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Glaring at them, Oak humphed, "All right, you three. Please cooperate with Rose. She's going to be taking care of you while you're gone. Here, Rose. You're going to need plenty of Potion, there aren't any Pokémon Centers out there in the rest of Nintendo World."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, sir," Rose nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's Nintendo World? Ugh, my head feels like it's going to implode. Is that really the same thing we do to move Pokémon from PC to PC?" Ash groaned, appearing next to the computer desk./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pika," Pikachu nodded at him, hopping up onto his cap./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose will explain as you travel. Now go, you two," Oak said, shoving them out the door with a bag of food for each. Thankfully, Rose had thought to add a change of clothes and some other stuff when they had first packed them. Hopefully Ash had been smart enough to do the same./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning to her new Pokémon, Rose tried, "Um, you three, return?" The Pokémon did. "All right," she sighed, turning to the Professor one more time. "Give me the map and letter we printed out."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I still have no idea what's going on. And it's still the middle of the night," poor Ash yawned in confusion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, we're going for a seafaring voyage. One that might take a few days," Rose told him as she accepted the papers from Oak and got a door shut in her face. "Sure is eager to get rid of us, isn't he? Crazy old guy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good thing I brought my Blastoise," Ash muttered, pulling the bill of his cap down over his eyes as they started to walk toward the beach./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We'll use my Lapras first, until she gets tired. Then we'll switch over to your Blastoise," Rose declared./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who made you in charge?" Ash grumped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Whoever picks what order people are born in, kiddo," Rose smirked at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You don't even have any Pokémon, except for the ones Oak gave you," he argued. "And don't call me kiddo. 5 years isn't that much of a difference."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's enough of one to put me in charge, Ashy," Rose giggled, still a bit giddy from finally having some Pokémon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, something jumped onto her shoulder. "Dwee! Dee, dee dwee dwee dee dee dwee!" Deedee growled at her, kicking her head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You're coming, too? Well, daisies," Rose sighed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is that? Is that a new Pokémon? It's a Dwee!" Ash said excitedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee," Deedee moaned, facepalming. emHere we go again,/em he thought, resigned to his fate./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, here's the ocean," Rose announced. "Come on out, Lapras!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Lapras!" the Pokémon laughed as it appeared, happily splashing around in the surf./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose and Ash climbed on, Pikachu on his head and Deedee on hers. "And off we go to Hyrule!" Rose squealed, exhilarated to finally be doing something with her life./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am so lost," Ash yawned as they pulled away from the coast, beginning the greatest Journey any Pokémonlander had ever gone on./p 


	6. Welcome to Hyrule! (NOT)

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNintendo World's Oceans, somewhere between Pokémonland and Hyrule:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So how much farther is it to Elf-World? Assuming it really exists, that is?" Ash groaned from where he was sprawled out behind Rose on Blastoise's shell./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know. Seeing as how big Pokémonland is, you have to remember that there's five points that size. And each point's landmass doesn't go all the way to the inside edge of each triangle-shaped point, so there's a bunch of ocean before you get to the center ocean area, and then a bunch more between us and each point. And Hyrule is on the other side of the Dreamland point from us. That was the point we passed several days ago that we saw way, way off in the distance. So, since it took us several days to get that far, we should be seeing the Hyrule coast anytime now," she calculated out loud. "It would've taken even longer, if it weren't for the fact that both of our Pokémon have been trained by a TM to swim extra-super-fast."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You're just as boring as the Prof, and not even one-fourth as talented," Ash yawned, using the bill of his cap to shield his eyes from the mid-morning sun./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling her eyes, Rose replied, "Thanks, Ash. I love your enthusiasm for this adventure."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's what I'm here for, Rosie," Ash shrugged, then sighed shortly, "Dwee, please stop trying to take my cap."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee," Deedee glared at him as he relinquished his grip on the cap and then kicked the side of Ash's face. Ash glared at him in reply and crossed his eyes at the little monster. emI only want the hat to try to display my royalty to whatever peasants we meet next, peasant boy,/em Deedee thought as he turned his nose up in the air./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Seriously, I wonder how his point puts up with him. Supposedly Waddle Dee are servants, and he likes to clean and stuff, but I have the feeling that no one could get him to do anything unless he just wanted to," Rose muttered, then pulled the one in discussion into her arms. "C'mere, Dwee. If we have to put up with you, I at least get to hug you."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee glared out at the universe, resigned to his fate of being snuggled for awhile. emWhy do I put up with this? How humiliating. How can I help my dashing good looks?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Rose dropped him out of her arms and onto Blastoise's shell. He turned to kick her, (how dare she treat him so?!) but then noticed the look of excitement on her face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Grinning, she exclaimed, "Sorry, Dwee. But look! There's Hyrule! Well, if the map's right, that is."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash instantly sat up. "That's definitely land over there. 'Bout time we get to get back on land. I've had enough time on the ocean to last a lifetime."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry, Ashy. We're gonna have to travel from here to the other points, too, you know," Rose smirked at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And I thought I was gonna get a nice, relaxing winter vacation. At least it's warm out here," Ash muttered, crossing his arms in irritation./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pika," Pikachu agreed with an aggravated toss of his little yellow head. He and Deedee had been the biggest cause of dissension on this expedition; they didn't get along very well at all./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as they reached the beach, Ash called Blastoise back into his Pokéball. "Take a break, buddy," he said to the Pokémon compassionately. "You've earned it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose stretched and tried to get used to walking around on land again. The most movement she'd really done the past several days was to swim from one Pokémon to another whenever they switched. She felt something land on her head as Dwee took his usual position. He seemed to spend most of his time either on her head or bothering somebody. "Well, Dwee. Are you ready to see some Elves? Assuming we really are in Hyrule?" Rose asked excitedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee," Deedee shrugged in reply, making sure everyone knew just how bored he was by all of this./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't explode with excitement or anything," Rose mumbled. "Dwee, you're just a regular stick-in-the-mud."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dee," he agreed with smug satisfaction in his voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, an arrow flew out of the trees, nearly hitting them. "Um, that doesn't look good," Ash gulped as it landed not three feet away from him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Please! We come in peace!" Rose squealed into the trees, holding her hands above her head. Pikachu, Ash, and Deedee all copied her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Out from the forest came an Elf with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a green natural-leather tunic and pants with a matching hat. He still had a bow pointed at them, and Rose got the feeling that he had only missed the first time because he wanted to./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"His eyes narrowed, he came over to her and held his hand out. She frowned at him, confused, but he gestured to her Pokéballs. "Oh, these? Don't worry, Mister Elf. They're not weapons," she reassured him, picking one up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He quickly pointed his bow at it. "No, don't shoot it!" she shook her head and sent the Pokémon out. "See? It's just a Pokémon. It's friendly!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Elf lithely leapt back several feet and pointed his bow at poor Pachirisu, the one that had come out, which proceeded to scramble up Rose's side and hide on her shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't think he understands you, Rose," Ash mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, his arms still above his head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Elf glared at him. "Link," he finally spoke, tapping his chest, then pointing to them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, Ash," Ash replied, pointing to himself. "Pikachu," he added, pointing to the Pokémon on his shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Umash, Pikachu," Link replied softly with a small nod. Ash decided it wasn't worth trying to correct him. Link then looked to Rose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose, Dwee, Pachirisu," she told him, pointing to each one in turn./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded. "Come," he simply said./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash and Rose looked at each other, then back to him. "Can you understand us?" Rose asked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding again, Link looked at her like she was an idiot./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then why the hand gestures?" Ash questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link shrugged, silent. "He doesn't talk much," a voice said from nowhere./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sword, Fi," Link sighed in annoyance, glaring at the air./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Master Link," the feminine voice agreed, then vanished./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, I'm officially freaked out now. Can we go home?" Ash begged Rose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. We have to find the non-hero, so we can save Nintendo World," Rose disagreed as she walked over to Link. He nodded at her, leading her into the trees. Ash groaned and followed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachirisu, return," Rose ordered, then inquired of Link, "Where are you taking us?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Castle. Prisoners. Dangerous," he answered simply, looking at them with distrust./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Elves seem to be very friendly creatures," Ash commented with a snort. Rose gestured to him to shut up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They walked for hours. The farther from the ocean they got, the colder the air got, and eventually they even had to start walking through snow. Poor Ash and Rose, who were dressed for a balmy tropical winter, were freezing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They reached a castle around midnight or so. "Hyrule Castle," Link suddenly announced. Ash and Rose had been chatting about random things all the way here, like the cool new PC game that was coming out called 'Irritated Pidgeys,' but this was the first time Link had spoken since he had declared them prisoners, and it made them both jump./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Link! You're back! You're late, but you're back!" a sweet voice suddenly laughed, and out from the castle ran a very pretty girl dressed in a thick, dark-purple, velvet coat with white fur trim that nearly reached the ground. She gave Link a huge hug, a happy grin on her face. Then, as she noticed Rose and Ash, she inquired, "Um, who's this?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Prisoners with monsters," Link answered with a shrug, half-smiling and hugging her back./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Prisoners? Monsters?" the girl asked, looking at them in disbelief. "They sure look kind of funny. They're so short compared to us, and their ears are so strangely rounded, and look at how big their eyes are. Those eyes would look big on one of Lon Lon Ranch's cows!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link shrugged again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, hi," Rose tried. "Um, I'm Rose, and this is Ash. And this is Pikachu and Dwee. We don't have monsters, we have Pokémon. I mean, Pokémon stands for Pocket Monsters, but they're not monsters. They're like pets, sort of. And Dwee is a Dreamlander."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The girl looked at her like she was spouting nonsense. "My name is Princess Zelda, and whereas I don't want to sound snide, I would appreciate the proper respect my position calls for." She had suddenly turned uptight and formal, not the happy, light self she had been toward Link./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose turned a Pokéball-red. "Um, I'm sorry, your Highness," she squeaked, giving an awkward curtsy. "We don't have kings or princesses or anything where we live, I didn't know they did here."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What are you talking about? All of Hyrule is under my rule. Where have you come from, that I am not Princess? And how can you go around wearing such a short skirt? That's so un-ladylike," Zelda murmured in distaste. "We must get you into more appropriate clothing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But it nearly reaches my knees!" Rose squeaked, blushing even deeper. "This is considered modest where I'm from!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's right. Um, your Highness," Ash defended her quietly. Rose glanced over at him gratefully, giving him a weak smile. He could be a decent kid when he wanted to./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where have you come from?" Zelda demanded again, growing somewhat perturbed. "Why do you come here?" Rose opened her mouth to answer, but Zelda interrupted, "We simply emmust/em get you into more appropriate clothing before we can speak. Rinda!" she suddenly called into the castle gate./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda ran out, nearly tripping over a cobblestone that stuck out of the road a bit on the way. "Yes, Princess Zelda? Eek, who are they? Their eyes are creepy!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Trust me, where we come from, your eyes are creepy. They're way too small," Ash told her, bemused./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Take this girl and give her one of your dresses. It will still be large on her, but you are the shortest Elf in the castle, except for the children, and we do not wish to bother them," Zelda ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Princess Zelda," Rinda agreed. "Come with me, um, prisoner."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The name's Rose," Rose sighed as she followed her. "What's yours?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm Rinda," Rinda replied, then dropped the lantern she was carrying. "Oh, Lon Lon milk," she sighed in exasperation as she picked it back up and re-lit it with a nearby torch on the stone castle wall. At least she hadn't broken its glass casing. "I'm such a failure."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wait," Rose gasped as Rinda led her into a room. "Did you just say you're a failure?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's it to you that I've never been able to pick up a sword or bow without injuring someone or something?" Rinda snapped as she pulled a plain light-blue dress made of heavy fabric out of a chest of drawers, and shoved it at Rose. "You can change in the closet."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose shrugged and did so, almost tripping over the skirt when she came back out. "This is so big on me. How tall emare/em you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling her eyes, Rinda replied, "Five feet. And like Zelda said, I'm really short for my age. I'm sixteen, how old are you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sixteen. I'm actually a bit tall for my age, where I'm from," Rose informed her. "It's weird to be towered over like this."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do you mean, by 'where you came from?' And you still haven't answered why you care that I'm a failure," the Elf crossed her arms and said shortly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This is gonna sound crazy, but Hyrule isn't the only land out there. Look," Rose started, opening her knapsack and pushing random stuff out of the way until she found the map. Pointing to each location as she mentioned it, she said, "This is what the world really looks like. There's Hyrule, and I'm from Pokémonland, over here. The critter that was on my head outside is from Dreamland, right here. I've never actually been there, although we sailed past a few days ago," she explained. "Anyway, the reason I asked is I'm the biggest failure in my point-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Point?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of the star. Like I was saying, I'm the biggest failure. But the other day, I was reading a digital book-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Digital?" Rinda interrupted again, completely lost./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, never mind that. I was reading a book, and it had my name on one of the pages. And next to it was this, like, oath. When I read it, this map appeared. And a letter, telling me to come here and find the failure here, because they'd be the other non-hero," Rose finished./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Still confused, Rinda demanded, "What's a non-hero?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Someone who's not a hero. We have to find the non-hero from each point, because some sort of evil is arising and we have to stop it," Rose answered with a shrug as she shoved the sleeves of the dress up and tied a knot in each of them so she could use her hands again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You actually look sort of pretty in that, it goes well with your brown eyes," Rinda commented, then asked, "But if they're failures, how can the non-heroes help? And who is the lad traveling with you? And what does this have to do with me?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a nod, Rose answered, "Well, I don't know to the first question. And the kid with me is named Ash. He's a hero where I live, over in Pokémonland, and he's traveling with me because Professor Oak told him to. I'll explain who Prof Oak is some other time. And what this has to with you is, if you're the biggest failure here in Hyrule, then you're the non-hero."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Me?" Rinda squeaked in surprise. "But I can't be!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Look, do you have any books by the Ancients here in Hyrule? Maybe you guys have a copy of the one I saw my name in. If we can find a random name in the one here, we can know who the non-hero is," the Manga-Head declared./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shrugging, Rinda replied thoughtfully, "Um, I think I've seen some books by the Ancients in the library. But I'm just a servant, I'm only allowed in there if I have special permission. Anyway, we need to get back outside. Princess Zelda and Link are probably getting impatient." She turned and led Rose back out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Following her, Rose muttered, "Princess Zelda doesn't seem to like me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, don't be too hard on her. Her elderly father passed away just a few months ago, leaving her in charge of the whole realm, or point, I guess; when she's only eighteen. And you have to admit, you're really different from us. And your skirt emwas/em short compared to what's considered normal here," Rinda defended the Princess. "She's actually really nice, when you get to know her more. She and I used to be friends, until she got older and she wasn't allowed to be friends with commoners anymore."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That stinks," Rose rolled her eyes, then softened. "But, that's really sad that her dad died."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Rinda agreed quietly as they arrived back where the others were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Took you two long enough," Ash grumped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee dee dwee," Deedee added, kicking her in the shins through the skirt./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I love you too, you little terror," Rose hissed at the little red-orange monster. He shrugged innocently, which made Zelda giggle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning to Rose, Zelda repeated from earlier, "Anyway, where do you come from, and why are you here?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose explained everything that she had explained to Rinda again. "So, you're looking for a failure? That'd probably be Rinda here," Zelda agreed. "Assuming you're telling the truth and aren't actually here to try to take over the kingdom or something. But, if there's really some sort of evil out there, you need Link, not Rinda. She's a lovable klutz, but he's a hero."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He is," Rinda agreed in a sweet voice, with stars in her eyes, evidently not bothered by Zelda's mild insult. Everyone, even Ash, Rose, Deedee, and Pikachu; rolled their eyes in disbelief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But that's the point," Rose huffed. "We don't need heroes, they won't be able to help. We need the non-heroes. The only reason Ash is here is he has to be, because a guy back home made him come!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Ash agreed, "She's right. I'd much rather be at home right now, getting ready for the Winter Festival."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Winter Festival? We don't have a celebration like that here. What's it like?" Rinda asked, fascinated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not right now, Rinda," Zelda ordered. "So, you need a book written by the Ancients with pictures of strange creatures in it? We'll look for it tomorrow. In the meantime, it is very late. Rinda, help these two to a couple of spare bedrooms, and help them start a fire in each to keep them warm."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Princess Zelda," Rinda curtsied. Ash gave a small bow, and Rose awkwardly curtsied again. And off Rinda led them into the castle, only dropping the lantern three times before she finally dropped, exhausted, into her bed herself. (And on top of that, she only set one hearth rug on fire in the process of warming the rooms. That one earned her a kick in the side from the Dreamlander. If this is what Dreamlanders were like, she wondered why it wasn't called Nightmareland.) Little did she know, her bed was much more comfortable than where she'd be spending her nights soon./p 


	7. The Second of the Non-Heroes

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHyrule Castle:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda awoke that morning like it was any other day. She got up before the sun and went around the castle, making sure that things were ready for the day. While she was busy tidying up the dining room, she suddenly heard someone say behind her,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good morning, Rinda."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Eek!" she squeaked and spun around to see Rose. "Oh. You're real. I had kind of hoped last night was just a dream."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose wilted. "Oh. Well, I can leave again. If you want."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee appeared from behind Rose and glared at the Elvin girl. "Dee," he huffed, and thought to himself, emHow dare you treat my favorite peasant like that? I don't like her much, but I like her more than any of you others./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good morning, Nightmare From Dreamland," she wrinkled her face up at the little guy. The two people seemed small, but this 'Dwee' was downright tiny./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI'm not even from Dreamland, really,/em he thought at her, wishing she could hear. emI've spent my whole life in Nintendo City. In a castle far nicer than this one, I must point out./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda had already quit paying attention to him. "That's not what I meant, Rose. I just meant, I'm really worried about this non-hero thing. You take me along, someone's gonna end up hurt, and-" she knocked a vase off a fireplace mantle as she dusted without looking. "Oh, Lon Lon milk."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Giggling, Rose told her as she bent to help pick up the shattered porcelain pieces, "When I do something dumb, which is often, I always say 'daisies.'"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, daisies," Rinda tried, putting on an exaggerated angry face. "Yeah, that does work well, doesn't it?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose laughed again. Just then, Link and Zelda walked in. "Oh, Rinda. Again?" Zelda sighed, looking morosely at the poor vase, which was yet another of Rinda's inanimate victims./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry," Rinda squeaked with an embarrassed blush. "I don't try to break things, really I don't. It just happens."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing, Zelda replied, "I know, and that's why you haven't been fired yet. Rose, come. You, I, Ash, and Link are going to the library."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What about Rinda? We'll need her there if she turns out to be the non-hero," Rose pointed out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's not allowed in the library, like the other servants. There are things in there that are not to be taken lightly," Zelda warned. "If she is actually involved, we will bring the book to her."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded once in agreement. Now that he had Zelda to talk for him, he didn't really say anything at all anymore, Rose observed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where is the lad, anyway?" Zelda asked with a frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ash is probably still asleep. He's infamous for sleeping really late, and it's early for us right now," Rose told her. "He won't mind if we go without him, as long as it means he gets to sleep."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Zelda turned around without another word and led them out. "I'm telling you," Rose whispered to Link and Rinda before she followed, "Zelda just really doesn't like me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda and Link both shrugged apologetically, then he gestured that they should go and walked away. Frowning, Rose followed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They entered the library minutes later. It didn't really look like a library to Rose, it looked more like some sort of magician's workshop, filled with cauldrons and such. There were a lot of books, but they only took up part of the room. "What's all this stuff for?" the Manga-Head questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The library is where new potions are discovered and brewed," Zelda explained with a shrug./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where I come from, we only have one kind of Potion. We use it to heal our Pokémon if they get hurt," Rose told her. "What kind of potions do you guys make?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, there's Heart Potions to heal, and Love Potions, and all sorts," Zelda shrugged again. "You know, you seem to be fairly intelligent company, and you have fairly good manners. Why does your point call you a failure, as you claim?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Because I can't get any Pokémon of my own. The three I have, I borrowed from the Professor who sent me and Ash here. And on my point, the more Pokémon you have, the more successful you are," Rose sighed, crossing her arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is ridiculous, judging someone's worth by how much they have of something," Zelda ranted. She hated injustice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link tapped her shoulder, then said quietly in what was quite a speech for him, "We do the same thing. We judge worth by how many monsters one has slayed, how many heroic deeds they have done."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"In surprise, Zelda realized he was sort of right. "That's not quite the same, Link," she disagreed anyway./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He shrugged, evidently done talking again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose, meanwhile, was pulling out books and skimming through them. "Well, this one's old enough to be written by the Ancients, but it's not it," she murmured, putting yet another one back on the shelf. Then, she bumped into one bound in a deep black leather. "Hmm..." she murmured, and pulled it out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"There was no title, the cover was completely without decoration, except for a snaky scarlet-red design along the spine. Flipping it open to a random page, she read silently, "The girl grinned as she accepted the award. She had been the first Trainer ever to receive every badge from every region. 'Good job, Rose. We should have never called you a failure,' Oak praised her, just a tad bit sheepish."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose gasped. How was a book that had her as a character in Hyrule?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose, get out of that area. Those books are dangerous!" Zelda suddenly warned her, beckoning her over to where she and Link were now searching./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDoes this book predict the future?/em Rose wondered. She knew she should probably put it back, but... It was like it wouldn't let her, like it had put some sort of field between itself and the shelf. After a moment, she slipped it into her knapsack, glancing up to make sure Zelda and Link didn't notice. It was just a book, after all. It couldn't really be all that dangerous./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Zelda suddenly exclaimed, "Eureka!" making Rose jump about four feet in the air. "Come here, Rose. I found it! I think, anyway."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose took the brown hardcover book from her and looked at the page it was open to. "Pokemonrando," she read the title at the top of the page, recognizing the swirly, fancy letters from the map. She had spent hours studying the map during their journey, committing the point's names to memory in both languages./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The page had a picture of two Manga-Heads, a girl and a guy; and it also had several Pokémon on the page as well. She flipped the page. "There's the Dreamland page, and next is the Mushroom Kingdom," she murmured, flipping the page again, then going back to the Dreamland page. "I can't wait to go to this point. Star Warriors are just as cute as the Waddle Dee, and hopefully they're friendlier."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Focus. Which page did you see your name on?" Zelda questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The page for the Mushroom Kingdom, but that might have been coincidence," she replied. "Look, you guys' language. What's it say?" she inquired, pointing to a name written next to the drawing of the Star Warrior./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It says Rinda, after all," Zelda mused. "That's definitely Rinda's name written in Hylian. Let's take the book to her."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They hurried to the room they had left Rinda in, Rose acutely aware of the black book she had put in her knapsack, because one of its corners was poking into her back through the cloth. emIt really can't be dangerous, it's just a book,/em she thought to herself, pushing her guilt at stealing it away from her. She really wanted to read the whole thing and see what it said about her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The book, meanwhile, laughed darkly to itself inside, the words 'Mwahahahahahaha!' appearing on one of the currently-blank pages for just a second. For it wasn't just a book. It was sentient, and it was evil. It didn't tell the future like Rose had guessed, it told a story where your fondest dreams came true. And if you read too far into it, the story captured you. You were stuck in a story world, a dream, forever; unable to ever find your way out. And, of course, after you got sucked in, the plotline took a dark turn, trapping you in a never-ending nightmare. Never-ending, of course, until you reached 'The End.' And that really was your emend/em./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But back to the current events:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rinda! You're the non-hero!" Rose shouted excitedly, shoving the book in the Elvin girl's face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Groaning, Rinda accepted the book and flipped through the pages, looking at all the creatures. "Look, there's Dwee. And something sort of like him," she murmured, fascinated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's a Star Warrior. Isn't it adorable?" Rose pointed at the picture. "I wish we had Pokémon that cute."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I like this thing best, though," Rinda smiled, pointing to a mushroom with fangs on the Mushroom Kingdom page. "It looks like a mushroom version of a bulldog puppy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I think that thing's called a... Goomra? Roomba? something like that," Rose shrugged. "I didn't really listen while Oak translated this page. Anyway, your name's on the Dreamland page. See?" She flipped the page back again and pointed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's my name," Rinda sighed in agreement, a bit put out that she was the non-hero after all. She had sort of been hoping that there was a bigger failure than her somewhere in Hyrule. Then she frowned as she noticed something. "This text... I can read it, but it's not a language I understand..."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Read it aloud," Rose urged./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda gulped and nodded. "I am the non-hero from Hyrule. I hereby swear to protect Nintendo World, even if it means my life." Her eyes growing wide, she squeaked, "I'm not dying for anybody!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Too late, you already swore to it," Ash yawned blearily from behind her. Everyone jumped, they hadn't noticed he was there until he spoke./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The page changed to show another map, just like the one Rose had. Each point appeared, just like it had for Rose, and each name appeared too. And then, just like with Rose, a letter appeared:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Nintendo World, Year 30. My dear Rinda,'" Rinda read, then shuddered. "How does this person know my name?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just read it," Rose commanded, standing tiptoe on her sneakers and nearly tripping over her skirt as she tried to see what the page said./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, I guess. 'You are the second of the non-heroes. Your point has always ridiculed you, telling you that you would never amount to anything but a servant,'" Rinda read aloud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's nicer to you than she was to me," Rose huffed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Read!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling her eyes, Rinda grumped, "Well, quit interrupting. 'But you will amount to much more than that. You are going to help save our world from a great evil. I still cannot explain everything, just as it was with Rose. All will eventually be revealed. For now, you need to know that, just as Rose has probably told you already, your land was originally indeed part of the map seen above. But, as Rose has also probably already explained, the points were separated due to warfare between them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'I still do not understand why they fought over who was superior. Each point's creatures are beautiful, whimsical, and wonderful products of beautiful, whimsical, and wonderful imaginations. As you read this, the points have completely forgotten about one another. But during what probably felt like an earthquake to you, which will have happened quite awhile before you will read this, all five points will have been rejoined./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'You have probably noticed the point named Forbidden... This point was to be another land, but the Ancients never got the chance to finish it. Even I do not know what is there, but no matter how badly any of you may be tempted, DO NOT GO THERE. It is off-limits to all, even myself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'You must now travel to the Dreamland point and find the third non-hero there. The system of finding him that was used to find you, Rinda, will not work. There is indeed a book there, just like this one, but... Well. You will find out then./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Be warned: even the hero you look up to the most will be helpless against the coming evil. Only the non-heroes will be able to stop it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'May your days be filled with Light, and may the Greatest One be with you. (See? I remember things about Hyrule. It's because I had a very good friend from there.) Yours truly, Princess Baika, ruler of Nintendo World," Rinda finished, a bit awed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She was a lot wordier with you than she was with me," Rose pouted, feeling somewhat offended./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, um, so does this mean we need to go to Dreamland now?" Rinda questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You, Link, and I will go," Zelda announced. "We'll take a ship. I'm sure we can convince one of the fishermen or someone else on the coast to let us have one, seeing as how it's for royal business."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No," Link disagreed softly. "You need to stay. You're Princess. Rinda and I will go."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Zelda glared at him, ready to argue, but then softened. "You're right. But hurry back, all right, Link?" she murmured, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash gagged, while Rose went "Aaw..."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda's reaction was to pout at the floor, and Deedee just rolled his eyes in disgust. emWhy in Nintendo City is she interested in a peasant when she's Princess?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, we should go then. Rinda and Link, go pack some stuff. Bring the book with us, we might find someone who can translate the rest of it," Rose ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who put you in charge?" Rinda teasingly grumped as she went to go pack some clothes, food, and things./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Princess Baika, when she made me the first non-hero," Rose grinned in faux-sweetness./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, all right," Rinda laughed, and left. She actually enjoyed the Pokémonlander's company, she could see the two of them becoming good friends on this adventure. It was nice to have someone who understood being looked down upon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I think you will find having Rinda along to be a bother, but it's not her fault," Zelda sighed to Rose. "She's a real sweetheart, and a brilliant artist, and whatever she does, she throws her heart into it completely. She's just so clumsy, she's bound to end up hurting someone. Keep an eye on her, okay, Rose?" she requested, then added, "I am sorry if I have acted cold towards you during your time here. I just have had a lot going on lately, and it's hard to not take it out on those around me, especially when they're strangers."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling, Rose assured her, "It's okay, your Highness. Maybe if I ever come back, we can chat some more or something."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Zelda grinned. "I'd like that, I think. You seem like a nice girl, Rose. Take care of yourself."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Take it easy, Princess," Rose gave a less-awkward curtsy than she had last night, and waved goodbye./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Following her out of the room, Ash asked, "Where are you going?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Out to wait for the other two, of course," Rose laughed at him, in a good mood./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are you going to take that dress with you?" he asked in disbelief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pika-pi," Pikachu agreed dubiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, actually, I am. It makes me feel like a princess. Plus, it's warm," she shrugged./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emIf only she knew what's going to happen to all of them in the end,/em Deedee thought to himself as he air-hopped up and landed on her head. emOff we go to Dreamland, I guess. I hope I don't get mistaken as a slave there./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They waited for about ten minutes, then were joined by Link and Rinda. "Well, let's go," Rinda said, a bit excited. After all, not every Elf got to see the places she had read about in the Ancients' book earlier./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They walked for hours, and around nightfall, they arrived at a small village on the coast. Link gave a local shipbuilder a letter from the Princess requesting a fishing boat, and instead, the guy gave them a pretty-good sized Hylian warship./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I doubt you'll be needing to fight anybody, there's no one out on the ocean," the guy shrugged, "But this'll travel a lot faster than a fishing boat. Plus, it looks cool."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It does," Ash agreed as they boarded and the shipbuilder left. "I always wanted to be a pirate as a kid."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ha, I guess that makes me and Rinda pirate princesses," Rose giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Argh!" Rinda agreed, making a pirate-y face, which made everyone but Link laugh. He just gave a thoughtful smile as he looked out at the sea; adventuring, quests, and other heroic stuff on the brain./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Come," he suddenly stated simply, heaving the anchor out of the water and getting Ash to help him raise the sails./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'll drive," Rose said eagerly, letting her Pokémon out to stretch their legs as she dashed to the helm. Pachirisu ran happily up the mast, while Psyduck waddled down under deck and disappeared, and Lapras splashed happily around in the water next to the boat. Ash copied her, and let his Charmander, Blastoise, Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, and Abra out to wander around the ship; while Pikachu maintained his place on his shoulder. Link and Rinda were amazed, and somewhat enchanted, by the Pokémon, which seemed to like them both in return./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As they pulled away from the coast, Rose grinned. Standing here in a dress, sailing a ship, surrounded by Pokémon, and with Elves as their companions, it felt like a real adventure now. Just like one of her favorite stories as a kid, almost. It was exhilarating and magical./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI will be your favorite story,/em the dark book thought to itself ominously, but of course she couldn't hear it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And off we go to Dreamland, mateys!" she shouted out with a laugh as the wind filled the sails and sent them off at a good clip./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Argh!" Ash and Rinda laughed in agreement, while Link just pointed his sword in the air in an excited fashion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAnd so the second non-hero was found. But their journey is still only just beginning.../em/p 


	8. The Halberd Gets Blown to Bits Yet Again

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSeveral days later:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAbove Dreamland, on board the Battleship Halberd:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sailor Dee looked around himself to make sure no one was watching, and then switched on his favorite music. He began to dance randomly around the control room of the ship. No one was going to bother him, the rest of the Meta-Knights (plus Kirby) were in the meeting room in a different part of the ship. Since he couldn't really talk, he wasn't included in the meetings. It was his job to keep an eye on the ship. But these were the perfect times to just set the ship to autopilot and take a break./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"In the meeting room, Meta Knight stood at the head of the table. "So, you all know why we are here, correct?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sword, Blade, Mace, and Ax all nodded. "Poyo!" Kirby said in agreement. The little pink puffball had come along as part of his training to be a better warrior./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I was not necessarily posing the question to you, Kirby, but as long as you stay out of our way, it is all right," Meta Knight sighed. "Now, you four, to your positions."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All four Meta-Knights stared at him blankly. "Which are what?" Sword finally asked sheepishly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight managed to restrain himself from maskpalming. All of the Meta-Knights were extremely loyal, but a dull set of armor was brighter than any of them. "Do any of you really know why we are here?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The four knights looked at each other, then meekly shook their heads./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight muttered something under his breath, then explained, "All right. A little over a year ago, there was an earthquake. Starting that night, I thought the sky seemed strange. After returning from defeating the Monstrous Lightning, with one less in the party..." His voice grew quieter and his eyes took a blue tinge, but he cleared his throat and continued, "As I was saying, after I returned, I did some observations and realized that the stars had completely changed. There were only one or two constellations that had been there before./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then I did some aerial observations, and noticed that the shape of the planet had changed. Also, the moon is larger now, and the planet's rate of rotation has changed slightly, as if the planet has grown. Now, obviously, this is impossible, and-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, sorry to interrupt," Ax grunted, "but we can't really understand what you're talking about. I'm sure it's interesting, but just tell us what you want us to do, Sir Meta Knight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very well," Meta Knight rolled his eyes. How he longed for some intelligent company. "What we are doing today is taking more aerial observations. Each of you needs to take your regular post in the control room, and-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sailor Dee suddenly burst into the room and started jumping around urgently. "Please, Sailor Dee. In a moment," Meta Knight ordered. "As I was saying-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But Sailor Dee wouldn't give up. He started tugging on the Star Warrior's cloak. "Sailor Dee! Would you please stop that!" When he wouldn't, Meta Knight finally groaned. "Fine. Show me what is troubling you, my friend."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The smallest and quietest of the Meta-Knights hurriedly led him to the control room, where he pointed out of the front window at something in the ocean below. Frowning, Meta Knight walked over to the spyglass he kept near the window and looked through it, then gasped in astonishment. "I have gone insane. It was bound to happen sometime," he moaned, stepping away from the spyglass and sitting down against the wall./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do you mean?" Mace questioned, confused./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""One of you look through the spyglass and tell me what you see," Meta Knight ordered in a resigned voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I see the ocean, and some trees, and ooh look, an eagle!" Ax told the others./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I mean in the ocean, you fool!" Meta Knight shouted in exasperation./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, there's water, and more water, and look there's Kine, and-" Ax suddenly cut himself off. "And there's also a really big scary-looking boat. And the boat has some really weird monsters on it, and some even weirder giants!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight suddenly leapt up. "So you can see it? So either I am not crazy, or we both are. Which is possible, but..." he shook his head, and then got an awful feeling. "A huge warship carrying giant monsters is coming towards the coast. Oh, Shotzo," he hissed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do you mean by giant, Mety-Knight?" Sword demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I mean, if my primary calculations are correct, which they always are, then that one with the green hat is around three times our size. And I think even the smallest of the monsters is probably about as big as we are. This cannot be good. Where in the Shotzo have they come from? Why are they coming here?" he fretted. "Battle stations. Now. All of you," he ordered, going into military mode. "We will not strike unless they do, but I wish to be prepared."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He slid a glove under his mask and rubbed his forehead as everyone around him ran into each other and over things in their crazed attempts to remember where their battle stations were and take them. This was just wonderful. Dreamland didn't have any sort of a military other than him and his Meta-Knights. If there were even just a few more ships like this one, they were all essentially done for./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Poyo?" Kirby suddenly murmured quizzically from where he was standing over in a corner./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is it, Kirby? This is really not a good time, young one," Meta Knight said tersely in reply, then gasped. "NO! Kirby! Do not do that!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby tilted his head and looked at him in confusion, wondering why Meta Knight was so upset that he was trying to push the small red button that had been covered by a glass case until he had accidently broken it. It was such a pretty red, and it needed a purpose to fulfill in life, so with an innocent grin, he pressed it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""ARGH! I am surrounded by bumbling idiots!" Meta Knight shouted in distress. "Kirby! I told you not to push that! You air-headed, food-crazed, numbskull! That was the emergency self-destruct button!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby smiled at him sheepishly, his hands behind his back. "Kirby not know what that mean. What self-destruct mean, Meta Knight poyo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing, Meta Knight tried to remember that he was basically talking to a six-year-old. "It means, Kirby, that in a few minutes the Halberd is going to go 'boom' with a lot of fire. That is what it means."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh," Kirby murmured, shrinking away from the world against the control panel./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Can this ship survive just one voyage without getting blown to bits?! Just one?!" Meta Knight yelled angrily at the universe, feeling like hitting his head against a wall. "I spend months putting it back together, but it never can survive even one flight! emEven one!"/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The other Meta-Knights silently watched his meltdown. Blade finally walked over, and patting his leader on the back, murmured sympathetically, "Try again rug muggen. Outten run gruff sug?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That would probably be wise," Meta Knight agreed tersely. "Seeing as how this blasted piece of steel alloy is going to be nothing but chunks of burning metal in around sixty seconds."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As he spread his wings and grabbed Kirby and Sailor Dee, Meta Knight kicked through the front window of the ship and flew towards the water, followed closely by the other Meta-Knights, which just jumped from the ship towards the ocean./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Unfortunately, he had misjudged when the ship would blow up, and they were not far enough away when it did. The explosion knocked them unconscious and sent them into the water./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The last thing he saw before his eyes drifted shut was all of the strange creatures staring at him over on their massive wooden warship. emOh, this is just perfect,/em he thought weakly, and then it all went black./p 


	9. Planet Popstar Has Grown?

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Warship Nintendo, So Dubbed by the Non-Heroes, (even though the two Guys wanted to name it something pirate-y, but we don't care, we're the Non-Heroes, so we named it.) Anyway, we're currently sitting in the waters off the coast of the point of Dreamland./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight groaned and awoke to feel someone pulling on his mask. Instantly, he leapt up and drew Galaxia, opening his eyes to see one of the smaller giants. This one had brown hair, large brown eyes, and glasses, and seemed to be a girl. Her eyes grew even wider as she jumped up from where she had been kneeling next to him and backed away several steps. They appeared to be just under the warship's deck, he could see sunlight streaming in from up a set of stairs just a few feet away./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Easy there, Bluey. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm just trying to see if you're hurt and need help. You hit the water really hard," she said in a soothing tone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Looking at her in disbelief, he snorted, "Bluey?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She stared at him. "Wow. Your voice is a lot deeper than I was expecting. Pinky is so high-pitched and cutesy, I thought you'd sound like him."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby," Meta Knight gasped. "What have you done with him? Where is he? Take me to him, you foul giant, or I will-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Easy, easy! Stop pointing that thing at me. And I'm not a giant, you're just small," the girl disagreed. "Anyway, I'm Rose. I'm from Pokémonland."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have never heard of such a place, 'Rose' from 'Pokémonland.' Where are you really from? And why do you plan to attack Dreamland? And who is the captain of this ship?" he demanded, standing right in front of her and pointing his sword up at her face. He didn't like that she was so much taller than him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I really am from Pokémonland. Look, if you'll promise to calm down and sheath that thing, I'll explain everything, okay, Bluey?" she offered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Stop calling me Bluey! I am Meta Knight!" he huffed at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Meta Knight? Kirby and Meta Knight... sheesh. Star Warriors sure have interesting names," she murmured./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Glaring at her, Meta Knight sheathed his sword. "Very well, I will hear your explanation. As soon as you have showed me that the others are safe."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh. Well, the other four guys with armor swam back to shore before we could help them. Pinky, or, um, Kirby, I guess; just basically jumped on board himself. The other Waddle Dee with the sailor's hat was the only one other than you that was still unconscious when we got to you," she explained, still trying to sound soothing. She had knelt down again so that she was closer to his size. He was almost just like a Pokémon, a bit less than half as tall as her. But way cooler than any Pokémon, what with his sword and the awesome mask and cloak, and the fact that he could talk./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am the only one that fainted other than Sailor Dee? Just lovely," he sighed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, all the others fainted, too. You just stayed out longer than any of the others. Sailor Dee, right? Well, he's up on deck having things explained to him by our Waddle Dee, Dwee. And Kirby is getting rid of our food stores for us," Rose laughed. "Now, before we go, are you hurt anywhere?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, and even if I was, I would not tell you," he humphed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her. It was kind of unnerving, his eyes had glowed an angry red basically ever since he had woken up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeesh. You're even colder than Dwee is. At least you haven't tried to kick me yet," she sighed, standing up and leading him back up deck./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yay! Meta Knight poyo okay!" Kirby cheered, running over in excitement. "Rose poyo, more cookie?" he suddenly pleaded, turning to her and making a cutesy face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, all right, Kirby," she giggled. "But we only have a couple left."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Meta Knight want one, poyo?" Kirby smirked at him, knowing he'd refuse./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Narrowing his eyes at the pink puffball, he politely declined, knowing he could find some mild form of revenge against the other Star Warrior easily enough at a later time. Maybe Kirby would find his shortcake had somehow vanished or something similar in the near future. "Now, where have you giants and your monsters come from, and why are you here?" he demanded uneasily as a small squirrel-like monster came and observed him curiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachirisu," it suddenly giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Come again?" he asked, confused./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachi-pachi-Pachirisu!" it shouted gleefully, then ran off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's Pachirisu. She's a Pokémon. And the other 'monsters' are Pikachu, Blastoise, Lapras, Pidgiotto, Abra, Bulbasaur, and Charmander," she told him, pointing to each one in turn. "And Psyduck is around here somewhere," she shrugged, then added, "They're all Pokémon. That's short for pocket monsters. Where I come from, we catch them to have them fight each other and keep as pets. The kid with the black hair and the cap is Ash, wherever he's hiding right now. He's eleven, and he's from my land. He's a hero there."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, what about the two giants that are taller than you are?" he questioned, still glaring at everything around him in distrust./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""They're Elves. Their names are Link and Rinda. Link's the guy in green, and Rinda's the one who's trying to fall overboard for the bajillionth time," she murmured, shaking her head with a laugh. "They're from Hyrule. Link's what's known as a Hylian hero, and Rinda's... not."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have never heard of this 'Hyrule,' either. Where are Hyrule and Pokémonland? They are not anywhere on Planet Popstar, to my knowledge," Meta Knight said in a suspicious voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Rose pulled a map out of the knapsack she had gotten the cookies she gave to Kirby out of. "This is what the world really looks like. You see, here's where we are now, Dreamland. And this is where I come from, Pokémonland, and Hyrule's over here, and-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do you take me for some sort of fool? There are no such places on Planet Popstar. Up here is where White Wafers is, up where this lying map says 'Dreamland.' And Whispy Woods is over here, and where it says 'Nintendo City,' that is where Castle DeDeDe is. There is no ocean emthere/em, it is over emhere/em. Now, would you please quit telling falsehoods?" he requested tersely, drawing his cloak around himself after he had finished jabbing at different places on the poor piece of paper./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby looked from Meta Knight to Rose, then pleaded, "Meta Knight poyo, Rose is nice. No be mad at Rose. Kirby not like when you mad, poyo. You scary, poyo."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do not be fooled by her faked kindnesses, my young friend. Every Rose has its thorns, and this one is a monster," he declared, looking right at her in mild disgust as he said it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Gee, thanks, Meta Jerk. Anyway, what do you mean? Your point is triangle-shaped, just like the others. They used to be separated from each other, but then they were reunited in what felt like an earthquake a little over a year ago. If you don't believe me, look at this book," she huffed, shoving an aged brown hardcover in his face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Cautiously, he accepted it and began to flip through it. Rose was relieved to see that his eyes finally changed from red to a much calmer golden-yellow that didn't glow quite as much./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This is in the language of the Ancients. Do you know this language?" he asked all of a sudden, sounding a bit fascinated. emPlanet Popstar being rejoined with the other 'points' on this map would explain a lot of the strange events that have happened,/em he thought to himself with a thoughtful frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He read a few pages silently, and basically gathered that what Rose said was true, according to this book, anyway. There were a few pages with pictures of creatures from each of the points, which he found interesting. "This book is definitely old enough to be written by the Ancients. Who knows? This might be one of the tomes penned by the great Master-Hero Sakurai," he murmured. The age of the book made him think that what Rose claimed could possibly be true./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Never heard of that guy. This book was written by Princess Baika, I think. She's the ruler of Nintendo World, and she lives in Nintendo City. I've never met her, so I don't know what she's like. But the reason we're here, is this: A great evil is arising of some sort, and it's going to try to take over the whole planet. And the normal heroes won't be able to stop it. So, the biggest failure from each point, or the non-hero, is being found and brought together. I'm the non-hero from Pokémonland, because I couldn't catch my own Pokémon. Rinda is the non-hero from Hyrule, because she's a real klutz and can't fight monsters. And now, by order of Princess Baika via letter, we're here to find the non-hero from Dreamland."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, he continued to skim through the book while inquiring, "So, how do we find the 'non-hero' you speak of? And if anyone from Dreamland is going on any sort of quest, I am coming along. There will be no argument on that subject. Kirby may come along too, if he wishes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, duh, poyo. Long as there's snacks. Kirby likes snacks, poyo," Kirby grinned adorably, making Rose pick him up and give him a hug./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Meta Knight might be a grump-bucket, but you're just as adorable as the book shows you being, Kirby," she giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I like you, Rose poyo," Kirby smiled at her, apparently not bothered by being scooped up into her arms without warning./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight rolled his eyes, thankful that she wasn't fawning over him like this. Wearing a mask was one of the best decisions he ever made, even if he did originally start doing so in one of his weakest moments. "As I was saying, how shall we find the third non-hero?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do you have a book like this one? Each point does so far. The book has the name of the hero on one of the pages, and when they've read their name and taken an oath of sorts, the next letter from Princess Baika appears. I'm guessing after we find the non-hero here, then it's off to the Mushroom Kingdom," Rose said thoughtfully./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm. If we do have a book like this one, which is quite possible, it would be in my secret library. We must go to Castle DeDeDe. You and the giants may come, but the monsters and weapons must stay here," he ordered, handing her back the book, and continuing to think. If what she said was indeed true, it did make quite a bit of sense. The moon was bigger because it wasn't the same moon, they had left their original one back wherever they had come from. The rotation had changed because the planet was indeed bigger, and the stars had changed for the same reason the moon had./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," she agreed with a nod. "We'll leave Ash here to watch over things. You hear that, Ash?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She was met with a snore from the vicinity of the helm. "I'll also stay," Rinda laughed lightly, wandering over to where Rose and the Star Warriors were standing, near the entrance to the steps that led below deck. "So, Bluey's okay? What does he look like under the mask?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My name is emnot/em Bluey!" he growled at her, highly offended. It bothered him that these creatures seemed to think they could take him so lightly, just because he was so much smaller than they were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He's fine," Rose shrugged, putting her hands behind her back and bouncing on her toes, wanting to get on with things. She had changed back into her Trainer's garb several days back, after the long skirt kept trying to make her trip and fall off the side of the ship. Plus, the ocean was too warm for the heavy dress. She felt sorry for Rinda, she would have offered her some of her clothes, but she wouldn't have been able to fit them. "And I don't know, he woke up and pointed a sword at me before I got it off to check on him."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmph," Rinda sighed. "I wanted to see if he's as adorable as Pinky is."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You will never see. My mask is never coming off," Meta Knight huffed at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda seemed to take that as some sort of a challenge. "Oh, yeah?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh dear," Rose smirked but tried to hide it, feeling a bit sorry for the little knight guy. "You're going to have to be ever vigilant now, Mister Knight. When Rinda gets her heart set on something, she doesn't give up easily. Trust me, I've been stuck on a ship with her for over a week."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, Shotzo," he groaned, stepping away from the Elf, who grinned at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Anyway, let's go," Rose commanded. "Come on, Kirby-cutie. Dwee, I'm guessing you wanna stay here?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Dwee nodded from where he seemed to be telling Sailor Dee about something exciting, based on the way the other Waddle Dee was staring at him with huge eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight took off and led Rose, Link, and Kirby to the castle after they jumped off the ship, and used the 'Pokémon' she called 'Lapras' to ferry the two giants and the smaller puffball to shore./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was going to take them about a half-hour to get from the shore to the castle. "Why did your flying thwingy blow up, anyways?" Rose suddenly inquired up to him as she trekked through a woodsy area./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby and his insatiable love of pressing buttons that he should not," Meta Knight snorted, giving the other Star Warrior the evil eye./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby just giggled mischievously and shrugged from where he sat on Rose's head. "Kirby couldn't help it. Button was pretty. Button wanted pushing!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am sure it did, young one," he murmured, still rather put out that his Battleship had been destroyed yet again. Then, shaking his head, he told the others, "Let us just get to the castle and find out who this 'non-hero' is, so we can go about saving the now-bigger Planet Popstar."/p 


	10. Non-Hero Number Thdwee

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAt the same time; Castle DeDeDe in Dreamland, the Waddle Dee sleeping area:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A young Waddle Dee sat sadly in the sleeping area, all alone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The rest of the Waddle Dee were hurrying around the rest of the castle, preparing for Christmas, which was nearly upon them. The weather was unseasonably warm for this time of year, but that wasn't too surprising. The last winter had been super cold and rainy, it only made sense that this one was just the opposite so far./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"If you will remember, Sakura discovered her healing Light when she helped a baby Waddle Dee recover its health. Well, it turns out this 'baby' wasn't really as young as he looked. He had always been sickly and weak, he hadn't grown as quickly as he should. Even now, he was still quite small for his age. He had never gotten that sick again since then, but he still was considered too small and weak to help the others serve around the castle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"So, he spent his days sitting alone, here in the sleeping area. The other Waddle Dee took care of him and felt sorry for him, but he didn't really have any friends. He missed the days when Sakura had been here, she was nice and helped him out, even though she didn't know that he was the only one she was helping./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, one of the outcast Waddle Dee, and another one that he didn't recognize but that wasn't part of the one mind, came in and waddled over to him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHeyo/em, Sailor Dee thought cheerfully at him as he touched foreheads with him. emAnything new going on with you?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNo, of course not/em, the small Waddle Dee sighed. emWho's this?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHis name is Deedee, and he comes from another land. He lives in a castle like us, but he's not a servant. He's basically a prince, he gets to live the sweet life. Anyway, he's here in Dreamland with a bunch of giants and monsters, looking for the biggest failure. Well, I got to thinking, us Waddle Dee are basically all looked at as being pathetic and simple. So, then I got to thinking, you're the Waddle Dee who's considered the most useless. So, with logic and all that other Meta-Knighty-type stuff, I figured out that you must be the failure they're looking for. So, wanna go off on an adventure?/em Sailor Dee thought excitedly at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI'm not even supposed to leave the sleeping area for fear I'll get hurt or get in the way/em, the little Waddle Dee How in Dreamland could I go on an adventure, Sailor Dee?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWell, we have to find the others and show you to them, first,/em Sailor Dee shrugged. emHere, Deedee will try to explain./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sailor Dee stepped out of the way and let Deedee over. emGreetings, fellow Waddle Dee. I am Deedee. And you are?.../em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI don't have a name. Waddle Dee that aren't outcasts aren't given names. Names encourage individuality,/em the little Waddle Dee sighed. emWaddle Dee that develop too much individuality start being able to talk some, saying 'dee' and 'dwee,' and then they get kicked out to be alone, as outcasts. I can't become an outcast, I need the others to take care of me and stuff./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHmm,/em Deedee muttered in reply, apparently not very interested. emAnyway, we need you to come with us to find the others. We air-hopped here while they had to walk, they didn't know we were coming, so we probably got here first./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWhat others?/em the small one asked, a bit fascinated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emA Manga-Head, an Elf, and Kirby and Meta Knight,/em Deedee replied./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Pink Devourer and Scary Sword Man and a bunch of scary sounding creatures I've never heard of? Count me out! I don't want an adventure!/em he protested, shaking his head forcefully and scrunching his face up in distress./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee turned to Sailor Dee and conversed with him for a moment. They had apparently created their own small one mind, because they weren't touching foreheads. A minute later, Sailor Dee turned to him and let him into their miniature one mind. emYou don't really have a choice, buddy. This is important, we need you to help save the world. Sorry in advance,/em he apologized, then picked up the little Waddle Dee and ran out of the sleeping area, followed closely by Deedee./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWhat?! I can't save the world! I can't even set a table or clean a window!/em the Waddle Dee panicked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDon't worry, you'll figure it out, my peasant friend,/em Deedee reassured him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What are you little morons doin'? Ain't you s'posed to be cleaning or something?" they suddenly heard a voice roar./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sailor Dee gulped. emUh-oh. Let's hope he doesn't have his hammer right now./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWho's 'he?/em' Deedee demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emKing DeDeDe. He's the self-appointed king of Dreamland, and he bosses all of us around. The Waddle Dee are basically his slave labor force,/em Sailor Dee rolled his blue eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The king caught up to them moments later. "Sailor Dee!" he gasped angrily. "I should've known you'd be the cause of this insubmorbigation! Meta Knight put you up to this, didn't he?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHere we go again, lecture time,/em Sailor Dee groaned, still not letting go of the wriggling smaller Waddle Dee. emYou Waddle Dee are s'posed to serve! Blah blah blah./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSo, he's a jerk?/em Deedee clarified./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emYup,/em Sailor Dee agreed simply with as much of a shrug as he could manage at the moment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWell, I'm going to serve him, all right. I'm gonna serve him up a kick to the face,/em Deedee told him in an irritated voice. Sure enough, the Waddle Dee air-hopped right up to the king, shouted, "Dwee dee dee dwee dwee!" and gave him a kick in the beak./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is this? You little rabble-rouser! You alls is plannin' a revolution, ain't ya?!" DeDeDe roared. "Well, I'm not gonna let ya! Escargoon! Get in here!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNow's our chance, let's go,/em Sailor Dee told Deedee urgently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emFine, fine. But I wanted to kick him again,/em Deedee pouted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emLook, now you're getting me in trouble with the king! I've already had enough adventure! Can I go home now?/em the smallest of the three pleaded, still trying to get away./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNope,/em the other two thought at him in unison as they turned and ran away from the king, toward who-knew-where, as far as the little Waddle Dee knew./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"***************************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose sighed and paced back and forth through the castle hallway, waiting for Meta Knight to come back from his 'secret library,' wherever that was at. Link was entertaining himself by making a torch on the wall light and douse itself by playing songs on a flute-thing. Kirby had disappeared not long after they got here, saying he was going to find them all a snack. More likely, he found a snack big enough for all of them and scarfed it all down himself, she thought./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The whole castle was decorated festively, for some holiday she had never heard of called 'Christmas,' Meta Knight had briefly explained. She guessed that it was probably Dreamland's version of the Winter Festival./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Yawning, she sat down and leaned against the cool stone wall, closing her eyes and writing a story in her head, like she did whenever she was bored. This one was about a young girl going off on an adventure and coming home a hero, although of course, the main character wasn't named Rose. She wasn't emquite/em that conceited in her head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She had been popular as a kid, she could write stories like nobody's business. Give her a topic, and you suddenly had an hour-long spectacular perfect for killing a summer's afternoon with. But then, once her and the others hit the age where the number of Pokémon you had suddenly decided how popular you were, she found herself friendless. Nobody had time to sit and listen to her stories anymore, they were all busy filling their Pokédexes and what-not./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She must have dozed off, because it was hours later when she felt something kicking her side. "All right, all right, Dwee. I'm up," she groaned, blearily opening her eyes, then frowning. "What are you doing here, anyway?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDwee? Why does she call you Dwee?/em the little Waddle Dee asked Deedee, now too tired to struggle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emBecause she can't hear me tell her I'm named Deedee,/em the other sighed in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sailor Dee, too. And who's this?" she asked, gently taking the smallest Waddle Dee from Sailor Dee. "You're so tiny. You're like, what, a foot tall? Maybe?" she guessed, smiling kindly at it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"His eyes widened in fear. emDon't let it eat me! Help!/em he begged the other two./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emShe's a good peasant, she won't hurt you,/em Deedee reassured him with a shrug./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight suddenly reappeared, seeming to warp in from out of nowhere. He either didn't notice their surprise at his sudden presence, or he didn't care, as he just simply began, "I found the book, and the non-hero's name and the oath you spoke of are written on the Pokémonland page. But the name it lists is just 'The Waddle Dee.' Now, I do not know if it is plural, as in all the Waddle Dee are the non-heroes, or if it just means one Waddle Dee," he sighed, showing Rose the page while Link watched. "And if it means just one, how in Dreamland do we find that one?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Sailor Dee demanded of Deedee, emHow do we get him to take the oath? He can't talk! He can't even say 'dwee' yet! He hasn't developed enough individuality yet!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee thought, then suddenly turned to the little Waddle Dee. emYou are the non-hero from Dreamland, and you hereby swear to protect Nintendo World, even if it means your life. If you agree to this oath, touch the page with your hand./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI'm not dying for anything! I'm not going on an adventure! I just wanna stay home!/em the Waddle Dee disagreed, wriggling like crazy again, in Rose's arms now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who is this little one?" Meta Knight suddenly questioned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I dunno, Sailor Dee and Dwee just brought him to me a couple minutes ago," she shrugged, rocking the Waddle Dee in a motherly fashion, trying to get it to calm down./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNow listen here, peasant,/em Deedee was mentally telling him, a bit irritated. emYou might not want an adventure, but your planet needs you. Now, trust me. I know how this is going to end, assuming we win, anyway. You'll be happy with where you end up. Now would you just take the oath and touch the page?!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Resigned to his fate, the Waddle Dee finally sighed morosely in his mind and leaned over Rose's arm, his hand just barely long enough to reach the book and tap the page./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Instantly, the page began to change. "What in Dreamland?" Meta Knight murmured, looking from the page to the Waddle Dee in surprise. "You are the non-hero, little one?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sadly, the Waddle Dee I guess so, Scary Sword Man. Although trust me, I don't want to be./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Grinning, Rose gave the Waddle Dee a hug and then set him in her lap, taking the book from Meta Knight and beginning to read the letter from the princess as soon as it had appeared. "'Nintendo World, Year 30: My dear Waddle Dee, you are the third of the non-heroes. Your point has never even noticed you, except for the ones like you, and they just see you as an inconvenience that they feel sorry for.' Oh, you poor little guy. Is that true?" she asked him compassionately./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He nodded slowly. How did this book know this stuff about him?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'But you are not just an inconvenience, even if you are small and weak compared to the others. You will become one of the most important Waddle Dee ever. You are going to help save our world from a great evil, my small friend. If Deedee is there with you, (he's my pet Waddle Dee, my little messenger and companion that I sent to find Rose,) then he will probably have tried to explain some things to you already.'" Turning to Deedee in surprise, Rose inquired, "So your name is actually Deedee?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSure is, peasant,/em the princely Waddle Dee thought back at her with a firm nod./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Just like last time, I will now explain a little bit more. As you know, our planet was crafted by the Ancients. But when an evil force came upon our world, they had to leave and return to their world, a land called 'Japan' in the 'Home Dimension.' Their intentions when building this world was to create a place where people could go and play, becoming a hero. But when this did not work out at all, their secondary plan was to create games featuring the characters they were going to have be 'Guides' here as the heroes. I do not know how successful that plan turned out to be, but I know that these games have something to do with the evil that will try to destroy our world.' So wait, this whole planet is just basically a giant... amusement park?" Rose asked, feeling discouraged. "We're just all characters created for people to entertain themselves with?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link frowned, and Meta Knight murmured, "That is somewhat disheartening."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing sadly, Rose continued to read the letter, "'Do not allow this to discourage you.' Bit too late for that, Princess. 'Our worlds' histories have taken their own turns, and each creature and character is their own person, not just a copy of what the Ancients planned out. You can't just program living creatures to be what you want them to be. You all are unique, and whereas some of you may share traits with the heroes in the 'games,' you are not just clones of them.' Well, that does help, some./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Now, you must travel to the point of the Mushroom Kingdom, and find the fourth and final non-hero there. Just like I have told the others, be warned: the heroes from your point may come along and help as they can, but in the end, they will be helpless against the coming evil, whatever it may be. May your days be filled with Light, and may the...- Star Power? I think that's right- may the Star Power be with you, my little friend. Tell Deedee I said to keep an eye on you./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Yours truly, Princess Baika, ruler of Nintendo World,'" Rose finished. "So, that's why the Ancients built these places?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I find it rather hard to believe. Why on earth would anyone make villains, if they wanted it to essentially be a giant playroom?" Meta Knight disagreed, frowning to himself. "I wonder if I am a hero in these 'games' the Princess speaks of. I wonder if this Princess is even still alive. Is she, er, Deedee?" he wondered, turning to the Waddle Dee./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, little guy," Rose suddenly said, picking the little Waddle Dee back up and turning him so he faced her. "A non-hero needs a name. Let's see... Well, Waddle Dee say 'dwee,' and you're non-hero number three, so I'm going to call you 'Thdwee!" Giggling, she hugged the Waddle Dee again as Meta Knight and Link both rolled their eyes in disbelief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are young girls always like this, or just when they are on this point?" Meta Knight looked up and asked Link in an annoyed tone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link shrugged, laughing silently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Thdwee thought, emYou know, this isn't so bad. She seems to like me a lot more than any of the Waddle Dee do./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emGood for you two, but her head is still my perch. Not yours,/em Deedee huffed territorially, air-hopping up onto Rose's head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThis could get interesting,/em Sailor Dee laughed in his mind./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well," Rose said to the two heroes as the Waddle Dee conversed among themselves, "I guess we should probably stock back up on supplies and head to the Mushroom Kingdom."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Meta Knight agreed, "I will go prepare some things. I will meet you all back at the ship later. Would you please locate Kirby and take him with you? He'll be in the kitchen, you can get the supplies you need there."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay!" Rose agreed. "C'mon, Link. You coming too, Sailor Dee?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The third Waddle Dee hopped onto her shoulder in reply. "Yeesh. Am I just that fun of a thing to stand on?" she sighed. All three Waddle Dee nodded at her eagerly. "All righty, then," she chuckled, not really all that bothered by it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A few hours later, they all gathered together on the Warship Nintendo. "So, off we go to see new places. This will certainly be interesting, do you not think so, Kirby?" Meta Knight asked the other Star Warrior thoughtfully as he stood on the prow of the ship with his cloak drawn around him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby was standing just behind him as the 'giants' pulled the anchor out of the water and raised the sails, making them sail off as the sun set. "Prob'ly, poyo. Long as there's snacks!" he shrugged, grinning./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rolling his eyes, the older one sighed, "Will you ever become concerned with anything other than food, my young friend?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Prob'ly not, poyo," the littler one admitted freely./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight had to smile a little, Kirby was a good hero when it was required of him. His innocence and love of food were just some of the reasons why people in general liked him so much./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And off we go to the Mushroom Kingdom!" Rose exclaimed from the helm, filled with excitement. Each new point they visited just made this adventure more amazing and story-like./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She had always promised herself that eventually she would take one of her stories and write an actual book. Who knew? Maybe this adventure would turn into her first novel, someday./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling and closing her eyes, she enjoyed the sounds of all the different creatures around her relaxing and falling asleep all over the ship, as they began their way to the fourth and final non-hero's point./p 


	11. The Dark Bibliochimera

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSeveral days later:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing, Rose leaned over the helm of the ship. It was nighttime, but the moon was full right now, so the ship was bathed in a soft light. All around her, the others were sleeping peacefully./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She smiled a little, the creatures from each point seemed to gather together. Ash and the Pokémon were curled up together in one spot, Link was resting not far from Rinda. And Kirby and the 'Waddle Three,' as she had nicknamed the group of Waddle Dee, were snuggled up together in a sort of puppy pile. The only one who was by himself was Meta Knight, and he was leaned back against the wall of the ship not far from her, nothing glowing inside his mask, so she assumed he was asleep, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, she jumped. She could feel something, it felt almost like something was calling to her. She knew what it was instantly, it was the book she had stolen in Hyrule. She hadn't really had a chance to read it yet, every time she found a private enough place to read it, someone walked in on her. She wasn't quite sure why she thought she needed to be alone to read it. Maybe it was guilt from taking something that wasn't hers./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Now, she looked around herself. Everyone was asleep, no one was watching. It was the perfect time to enjoy a story. So, she pulled the book slowly out of her knapsack. Glancing around herself again nervously, she slowly opened it up and sat down, her back against the helm./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnce upon a time, there was a young girl. She wanted to be a great Trainer, but everyone told her she couldn't be. They all told her she was just a failure, that she would never be successful. But oh, how wrong they were. She was greater than any of them, greater by far./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"This was a bit weird, but promising so far. She settled back farther into her place and was about to turn the page, when she was suddenly interrupted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why are you so secretive about that book?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She jumped and shut the book, pushing it into her knapsack as she stared at Meta Knight in surprise. "I thought you were asleep."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I sleep very lightly, and sometimes I just meditate. Now, why are you so secretive about that book?" he demanded again, eyes narrowed suspiciously. They were currently glowing an irritated orange./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""M-me? S-secretive?" Rose stuttered. For someone two feet tall, he sure could be intimidating when he wanted to be. "I'm not secretive about it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmph," he replied, standing up and drawing his cloak around himself. "You seem rather... disinclined, to let anyone know you are reading it; always only pulling it out when you think you are alone. May I ask what it is about?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, of course you can," she shrugged, trying to sound indifferent./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, then, what is it about?" he questioned, eyes still narrowed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's about, well, me. I think it tells the future or something. All that I've read so far is me receiving an award, and that I'm great, even though people call me a failure," she told him. "Nothing frightening. Chill out."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hpmh," he said again. "May I see the book?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No," she replied forcefully, in a voice much more sinister than her normal free-spirited tone. "You can't. It's mine."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He frowned to himself. At first it had just seemed to be a lying book known as a Bibliochimera. Those weren't emtoo/em dangerous, they just had a habit of making their readers egotistical and occasionally a bit crazy. But Rose's reaction to his asking to see it made him worried that it was something darker. Much darker. "Rose, I need you to let me see the book," he ordered firmly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. It's emmine/em. You can't make me. I'm way bigger than you," she hissed back, clutching the knapsack to herself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Height is not what wins a battle, young one. Now, give me the book, or I will take it by force," he threatened. "Do not allow it to take hold of you. If it is just a book, there should be no reason why I cannot see it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"His words seemed to reach her, as she relented and handed him the bag. "For just a minute, I guess. But make it snappy, Mini Knight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ignoring her insult, he pulled the book out of the top of the knapsack and took a good look at it in the moonlight. It didn't look too sinister, it was just a black leather-bound book with a scarlet-red design on the spine. It looked like it could be a journal or some such./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Cautiously, he flipped it open to a page near the front, knowing that now its words would be meant for him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSlowly, he approached the smoking starship. Hopefully, whoever inside was unharmed. He gasped as the cockpit came creakily open, revealing a familiar face that he had thought he would never see again./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"Bl-blossom? You survived the war? But how?"/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHis old friend smiled weakly back at him as she tried to clamber out of the pilot's chair. "You made it, Meta. I knew you would," she laughed./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emShaking himself out of his surprise, he gave her his hand and helped her out. "I truly thought you were dead. How have you come to be in Dreamland? Where did you get a starship? Why did you crash?"/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"I don't know, I'm just glad to have found you again after all these years," she said with a smile./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHe threw his arms around her, so thankful that she was alive. Who knew? Maybe now he could convince her that the ten, maybe fifteen years between them wasn't really all that much./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He inhaled sharply and shut the book firmly, even though it was oh-so-hard to do so. "I know what you are now," he whispered to it coldly, as Rose looked at him in confusion. "You are a Dark Bibliochimera, are you not?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The book made a hissing sound, and he chuckled darkly. "Yes, not so big and bad now that you have been found out, are you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, Meta Knight, why are you talking to a book?" Rose questioned dubiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning to her, he replied, "As I said, it is a Dark Bibliochimera."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's that?" she inquired, still confused./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, a Bibliochimera is a benign, charmed book that tells the story of your fondest dreams coming true, whatever they may be. 'Biblio-' for 'book;' 'chimera' for 'dream,' or 'fantasy.' The book does not tempt one to read it, they just often find the story inside temptation enough. Whereas the book itself does no evil, those who read it oftentimes go insane from its pleasures, fooling themselves into thinking they 'deserve' such, or even that they really have such," he explained, still looking at her. But then his eyes turned to the book. "But a Dark Bibliochimera is not just a book, it is a monster. It will do whatever is in its power, which is a great deal, to rope you in. Once it has you, it will do whatever it can to keep you from ever letting it go. Eventually, it will suck you in. You will no longer exist in the real world as anything but a shell. Then, once your consciousness is in the story world, the tale of your dreams will turn into the story of your worst nightmare. And finally, it will destroy you, and you will pass away in reality as well."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeesh. Who would even make such a thing?" she gasped, glad that he had taken it from her now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing sadly, he replied, "Many dark minds would find great pleasure in unleashing this monstrosity upon the universe. Where did you find this book, Rose?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""In the library in Hyrule. I bumped into it, completely by accident, while we were looking for the Ancients' book there. I read just a little, and then Zelda told me that the books near where I was were dangerous."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Zelda?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Princess of Hyrule, and Link's girlfriend. Although Rinda doesn't appreciate that fact," Rose smiled a bit, then frowned again, staring off into space as she thought. "Anyway, I went to put it back, but I couldn't. I didn't want to, even. So I just took it, because I wanted so badly to read the rest of it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Exactly. Its temptations are very hard to resist," he told her, wanting so badly to open it back up himself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So how do we get rid of it?" she suddenly demanded, bringing his attention back to her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Get rid of it? As in destroy it? We cannot. It is indestructible. Observe," he ordered, suddenly drawing his sword and throwing the book up in the air. As it returned to the ground, he attempted to slash through it, but the blade just bounced right off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Several snores went off around them, causing them both to freeze for a second, then relax when no one actually woke up. Meta Knight then continued, quieter now that he had remembered the circumstances of his current location, "If Galaxia cannot destroy it, then nothing can."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why's your sword have a name?" she asked, curious./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After he had sheathed it and drawn his cloak around himself, still looking at the book where it lay on the wooden floor, he answered, "Because it is not just an ordinary sword. It is a magical blade, filled with the energy of the Light. It is unbreakable and stronger than nearly any substance; able to slice through even iron like it was only paper, when that is needed. But nonetheless, it is unable to even place a tear in this fiend."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why is this thing so strong?" Rose whispered, afraid to touch it again, even though it was still calling to her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Because it is made from pure evil, mostly. Evil is a very, very strong thing," he murmured softly. "Never allow evil into yourself, Rose. It is nearly impossible to stay in control of it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You say that like you know so firsthand," she commented./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Maybe I do, and maybe I do not," he hissed, his eyes turning a deep, dark red for just a second. "My apologies, please excuse that," he then added apologetically, as his eyes turned back to a thoughtful deep orange./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, sure," she muttered, a bit more scared of him now. Geez, how frightening and intimidating could a two-foot marshmallow possibly be? "How did you know what the book really was?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So many questions, young one," he answered, sounding a little bit amused. "I make it a point to know of every monster I can. It will help me to avoid being unprepared whenever I come across one. Being unprepared is a feeling I particularly detest./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Plus, it is not just my own life I have to protect. I have to also keep an eye on young Kirby until he is old enough to care for himself, he does not really have anyone else strong enough to do so." He sighed, then added, "At least the king is not constantly sending monsters after him, anymore. I thank the Star Power every day that Nightmare and his despicable 'company' are gone."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's Nightmare? And why was the king sending monsters after Kirby? The penguin guy with the hammer and the snail that we managed to avoid, right?" Rose queried. It seemed like with every question Meta Knight answered, she only had more questions, not less./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Those are questions to be saved for another time. In the meantime, to return to your earlier query of 'how do we get rid of it?' As I have already demonstrated, we cannot destroy it. I have a place where I can keep it back in Dreamland, where it will never harm anyone. In the meantime, we must keep it hidden. We cannot let any of the others be added to its list of people to tempt."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But won't its just being here tempt them?" she argued. "Maybe we should throw it overboard."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, definitely not. It can only begin to attempt to ensnare somebody after they have first opened its pages. Now, think, Rose. If we throw it overboard, it will eventually wash up on land somewhere. And what of the poor soul that finds it, not knowing what it is or what it can do? We cannot risk that, now can we?" Meta Knight reminded her, looking over at her sideways./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""True. But as long as it's here, you and I will both want to read it. What about us?" she pointed out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding once, he replied, "We will hide it in a place known only to the both of us, and we will neither one let the other read it. I will hold you accountable, and vice versa. Are we in agreement?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, sir."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good. Now, where shall we hide it?" he wondered aloud, only somewhat posing the question to her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm guessing the knapsack isn't a good place. It'd be too likely for someone else to get ahold of it. But at the same time, we don't want to put it somewhere too secluded. We can't just both follow each other around the whole voyage," she laughed softly, pulling her knees to herself and resting her chin on them. It was late, and she was beginning to grow tired. Here on the ship, it was really hard to stay awake once you got sleepy. Really, really hard, when the calm waters felt like they were rocking you gently and the soft ocean breeze sounded just like a quiet lullaby./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is true. Hmm..." Meta Knight murmured, giving the book a glare. He nudged it with his toe, making it hiss again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Both of them gave a little snort. "It might be tempting, but it sure doesn't seem all that evil," Rose commented./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How so?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, the same thing you said earlier. Now that it knows that we know what it is, it's scared. Sure, we can't destroy it, but we're gonna hide it. And there, it won't be able to hurt anyone. I have a feeling that it emneeds/em to hurt people once it's been awakened, otherwise it'll just go back to sleeping on a shelf for who knows how long," she explained with a shrug, then yawned. "Let's just put it back in the knapsack for the night. We'll find someplace safer for it in the morning, or something."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I suppose that would be acceptable," he agreed with a single nod. They both just stared at the book for another long moment, but finally, Rose picked it up and shoved it to the bottom of the knapsack without giving it another single look./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You know, Meta Knight, you're not bad company for someone the size of a littler Pokémon," she told her short companion with a teasing smile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am going to ignore the hopefully-unintended insult in that," he chuckled. "And you are not bad company either, for a silly young girl. Good night, Rose."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good night, Mister Knight," she murmured back, then yawned again and lay down, curling up into a ball and using the knapsack as a pillow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He smiled to himself as he turned and looked out at the ocean. Rose really wasn't a bad child, she reminded him a lot of his young pupil, although she had been a bit older than Rose was. She had been taken from them during the final battle with the Monstrous Lightning, but the Star Power had assured him that she was still out there, somewhere, helping someone else. He just hoped that wherever she was, she was safe, and happy. In the same way, he hoped that somehow, his old friend Blossom was also alive and well./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pushing these thoughts away from himself for the time being, he began to focus on the task at hand. He wasn't really tired anymore after he had rested for awhile, so he would be the one to stay awake and keep an eye on things. He'd make sure they didn't drift off course, that sort of thing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pokémonland was the point between Dreamland and the Mushroom Kingdom, which was one of the bottom two points of the star. Rose had said they would stop there and pick up some more supplies from where she lived near the coast, and check in with Professor Oak if he was still there. Meta Knight had to admit, he was a little bit excited to observe more of these 'Pokémon.' He found them fascinating, although the larger ones made him nervous. They reminded him far too much of Nightmare's monsters./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thinking of monsters led his thoughts back to the Dark Bibliochimera. He really was unsure of where to hide it, neither was he sure of his strength against its calls. Even now, he could feel it reaching for him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI wonder if it is part of the great evil the non-heroes must face, or if it is just a smaller foe to slow us down along the way,/em he pondered as he turned away from the book's general direction again and stared out back out at the calm sea. emI just hope that whatever this great evil turns out to be, the non-heroes are enough to stop it. Rose and Rinda are both willing, from what I can tell; and with Rose's guidance, I think little 'Thdwee' will probably also become willing to help. But sometimes, having the will to do something does not guarantee there is a way, even if that does go against the old cliché./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing, he decided to trust that the Star Power would do as he wished with them all. Taking comfort in that, he took hold of the ship's helm, guiding it slowly back to its proper course as the others all slumbered around him. He felt peaceful, even with all the things he had to worry about right now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Until a large blue dragon/sea monster creature leapt out of the water and over the ship, making him jump about ten feet into the air. "Shotzo," he squeaked in surprise./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The creature disappeared back under the water with a "Gyaaaaaar!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I guess we are almost to Pokémonland, assuming that thing was a Pokémon," he murmured, shaking his head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sure enough, they arrived there the next morning./p 


	12. Arrival And Ambush, A Sudden Visitor

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSeveral days later:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emStill onboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda sighed, a bit irritated. "C'mon, little Pikachu. Please sit still for me? I just need to draw you. It'll only take a few more minutes!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pika-pi," Pikachu sighed, and really tried to settle down. But he wanted to go play tag with Kirby and Thdwee and the other Pokémon, not sit for a portrait./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know it's boring, little guy, but I need it to show to the others when I get back, so they don't think I'm crazy. Now, come on. Just for another minute or two, I'm almost done," she said kindly. Maybe the Pokémon didn't like to sit still, but they sure did seem to like her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose's Pokémon were more fond of Rinda than Rose, even. It was only fair, the Dreamlanders seemed to like Rose more than her or Link. She wondered who would end up becoming Link's friend. The Mushroom Kingdomers, maybe? Although, he and Ash got along pretty well./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It had been several days since they had left Pokémonland, they hadn't stayed there for even a whole day. Oak had indeed still been at the place Rose called the "research center."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"While they were there, Rose had showed her a device called a 'PC,' which she, personally, found a bit strange and frightening. It was sort of like a book, but you used a thwingy connected to it to 'click' on things on the screen and make the screen change the picture it was showing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"While they were there, Ash and Rose had used the chance to heal their Pokémon, and Ash used the PC to trade his Abra for a stronger Pokémon called a Gyarados. (She sure was glad she wasn't a Pokémon. What with being put in a little ball and then onto a big, scary machine that made funny noises; and being moved from place to place by a strange PC, it seemed rather unpleasant to be one of those poor creatures, in her humble opinion.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She had met Professor Oak, he seemed like a nice enough guy. He had found all of them extremely fascinating, but just like Rose, he seemed to especially like the Dreamlanders. Kirby had gotten a thorough inspection just like if he had been a new Pokémon, but Meta Knight had been smart enough to hide somewhere until the Prof had calmed down. He still hadn't gotten his mask taken off by anyone, and she still wanted to see what he looked like. Rose had talked her into giving him his privacy, though, for the meantime, anyway./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oak had also enjoyed talking to Rinda and Link (well, talk to Rinda and get nods out of Link,) about what their world was like. He listened to the things they talked about, and took notes. When he had gotten up to help Rose, Link, and Ash carry something aboard the ship, Rinda had looked at the notes. They said things like 'quaint' and 'old-fashioned.' Well, humph. Maybe her point wasn't old-fashioned, maybe his was just too advanced./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Now, Rose was at the helm, like always, and Ash was sitting up in the crow's nest with Link, the two of them playing an old Hylian card game. Meta Knight was standing on the prow with his cloak drawn around himself. He seemed to like that spot, he spent a lot of time there./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And she was seated next to the door that led below deck, drawing Pikachu. "There, done. Come see, little friend," she ordered gently. Pikachu hopped over and looked at it, then giggled happily. "I think I did pretty well, don't you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Leaning over the fencing above, Rose commented, "You do really good with drawings. That's almost as good as a photo, Rinda."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's a photo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, never mind," Rose shrugged with a laugh, then joked, "What with your drawings and my storytelling, and Thdwee's... well, whatever he's good at, maybe we'll destroy the coming evil with the power of creativity!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Heh. Yeah, right," Rinda snorted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do not be so quick to rule out that possibility, young ones," a voice suddenly said from right above her head. Both girls jumped and looked at the railing behind Rinda, where Meta Knight had just appeared./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do you really have to appear in random places and freak everybody out?" Rinda asked, annoyed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What can I say? The reactions I receive can be somewhat amusing," he replied, his eyes glowing a light green as he glanced down at her, but they quickly returned to their normal golden-yellow. "But as I was saying, might is not the only way to defeat an enemy. Fighting is not the only form of battle or warfare out there, you know."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How do you know this stuff, anyway?" Rose inquired, putting her elbows on the fencing up where she was and resting her chin in her hands, looking down at the masked puffball in curiosity./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Looking off into the distance, he began, "My point, and much of the galaxy near where Planet Popstar used to be, was plagued by a great monster known as Nightmare for a very, very long time. This Nightmare ran a 'business' to finance his tries to take over the universe, called Nightmare Enterprises, which manufactured and sold monsters to clients./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""When I was young, I lived on a different planet, a once-lush, beautiful planet which now only exists as a barren wasteland, thanks to said monster. But when I grew up, most of the Star Warriors, plus some other valiant creatures who became known as Star Warriors even though they were not of my species; fought a great war against Nightmare. The war lasted for over a century, and I was part of it the whole time. I quickly advanced up through the ranks, becoming one of the head generals within a short time of my joining./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All those who joined fought bravely for a long time, but Nightmare was stronger than we were, and he had an unlimited supply of soldiers. For every one we took out, he sent another three in. And we couldn't just make new soldiers like he could. Almost all of the warriors, my allies and friends, were taken, one by one. A couple of my closest friends, Star Warriors who were not of the Star Warrior species, were among the lives claimed. One of them left behind a husband and a daughter. The other, I had to destroy myself, and he left behind a son. There were many heart-breaking stories such as these of children left with only one, or even no parents to guide and care for them."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He paused a moment, his eyes now glowing a deep blue. Then he continued, softer, "It was terrible, truly terrible. Millions of brave souls, all lost forever. Many planets were left completely lifeless, including my own. I was one of the very few sparks of good left. So I went to Dreamland, knowing that the king was one of Nightmare's clients, and also knowing from prophecies that eventually, young Kirby would come there. And so he did. I mentored him, made sure he was never truly harmed by any of the king's monsters, and when the time came, he destroyed Nightmare. That foul beast hasn't been heard from since."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pausing again, he seemed to be lost in space. Rinda cleared her throat to bring him back, earning her a glare from Rose, who mouthed at her, "Give him a moment, Elf!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight didn't notice Rose, he just nodded once at Rinda and began again. "My apologies, I should not have been so wordy. But, to get back to your original question. I have seen things that no one should ever have to see, taken more lives than anyone should ever have to take, experienced pain and sorrow that no one should ever have to experience. Yet, I never completely gave up hope no matter how dark things got, trusting the Star Power would eventually work things out. And everything eventually did. The war was a horrible thing, but it made me who I am./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And that, my young friends, is how I know these things about battle, and chivalry, and honor, and such." And with that, he turned and strolled thoughtfully back to the prow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He's cool. Kirby's cute, but he's cool," Rose said as she stood up and stretched before going back to the helm. "I feel really sorry for him, though. There's never been a war like that in Pokémonland."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""There have been similar trials in Hyrule throughout our history," Rinda sighed, looking down at her sketchbook and finding that she had absent-mindedly been drawing several puffballs dressed in armor fighting a giant, scaly monster that she supposed was her mind's idea of Nightmare. "Thankfully, the Hylian heroes have always been there to protect us."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's interesting," Rose replied thoughtfully. "So of our three points, two have always had fights and things, but mine has just always sort of been laidback and stuff. I mean, sometimes a legendary Pokémon or Team Rocket-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Really long story. Well anyway, sometimes someone or something'll show up and cause some trouble, but there aren't ever really any lives lost. Maybe it's cause we're friends with the 'monsters,' whereas you guys have always fought them," Rose murmured. "Anyway, I wonder if the Mushroom Kingdom is a peaceful place, or more warlike."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I hope it's peaceful, right now anyway," Rinda shivered. "Last thing I want is to walk into something dangerous."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You kind of did when you agreed to come, Elf," Rose laughed in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Grimacing, Rinda retorted, "Don't remind me, Manga-Head."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Ash called from the crow's nest, "Hey, guys! Land ho!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Really?" Rose questioned excitedly, starting to bounce on her toes. Rinda giggled, Rose just turned into a little girl whenever she got excited or really happy about something. With those big eyes and innocent features, she looked like a little girl, too. It wasn't fair, being an Elf, Rinda already looked like an adult. She wished she was all cute and short and adorable./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You know, Rinda, you're lucky," Rose looked down at her again just then./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning, Rinda inquired, "How so?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shrugging, Rose explained, "Well, you're tall. You don't look like a little kid. People'll actually take you seriously. Me, when I try to convince my mom I'm old enough to do anything, she just looks at me funny and says, 'sweetie, you don't even emlook/em old enough to do that yet.' I wasn't even allowed to walk to school on my own until I was 12, for crying out loud. It took emhours/em of begging to get her to let me move to the research center."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm," Rinda muttered. Interesting. Rose was envious of her, just as she was a bit jealous of Rose. "Well, you're cute. If you ask for something, people will usually give it to you, as long as you're sweet enough about it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, right," Rose snickered. "Try telling that to my mom."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, try telling my mother that I can be taken seriously. Even my parents think of me as being just a lovable joke. They love me, but I can tell they're really disappointed that I'm always going to be a servant. They wanted me to be a hero, like they both were when they were younger," Rinda rolled her eyes in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I guess no one can ever just be happy with the way things are," Rose sighed, then started bouncing up and down again. "I can't wait! I love meeting all the new people from each point. I mean, you Elves are all, like, intellectual and smart and stuff. And the Dreamlanders are cute and/or cool. I wonder what the Mushroom Kingdomers are like."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, Rose, you're gonna have to wait awhile to find out," Ash yelled down to her as he looked through a telescope thingy that was technically Meta Knight's. "There's no one anywhere on the coast, as far as I can see. Nothing but some bricks and pipes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Bricks and pipes? Like ruins? What if there was a war and that's all that's left?" Rinda wondered anxiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose climbed up to the crow's nest and snatched the telescope from Ash, managing to squeeze between him and Link. It was a good time to be small. "Give me that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Please be careful with that, it is a tool, not a toy," Meta Knight told her tersely from where he was yet again standing on the prow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry," she called to him, then lifted it to her eye. "Daisies. This thing wasn't built for Manga-Heads, obviously," she muttered. "Don't worry Rinda, it's not ruins. It looks almost like someone intentionally built it like this, as a sort of... obstacle course, maybe?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Maybe it's part of the area that the 'heroes' were supposed to go through, if the Ancients had had their way," Rinda suggested, referring to Princess Baika's Dreamland letter, which she had read after Rose, Link, Kirby, Thdwee, Deedee, Sailor Dee, and Meta Knight had returned to the ship./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That makes sense," Link murmured nearly silently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Once they reached land, everyone got off for the chance to walk around some. Out of nowhere, a small brown mushroom creature came flying at them. Meta Knight held his cloak up to block it since he was in front, causing it to disappear into the fabric. As everyone stared at him, (that cloak sure could do some weird stuff,) he sighed. "I hate when that happens. I always have to wonder where the creature goes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda shuddered. "I am sure am glad I'm too big to fit in that thing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Trust me, it is bigger on the inside," Meta Knight told her, a smirk in his voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How?" she asked nervously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Magic," he answered as Ash suggested simultaneously,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Timey-wimey sci-fi technology!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everyone looked at him in confusion. "What? None of you watch Professor When? Seriously?" he demanded dubiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I've never even heard of that, Ashy," Rose groaned. "Where do you get these things, anyway?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You just don't know about anything cool, Rosie," he grumped back./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby wandered over to Meta Knight. "Well, poyo. Where the non-hero guy? Or girl?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I do not know, young one. How would-" he began, then froze. He instantly held a hand up to shush the others, but none of them noticed. "Silence!" he finally hissed, glaring back at them. After they had mostly shut up, he closed his eyes and listened. "Ambush," he suddenly gasped, drawing his sword and facing a brick wall not far from them. "Arm yourselves."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ambush? What do you mean, ambush?" Rose demanded in a terrified whisper-shout as Link drew his bow and arrow and walked silently to where Meta Knight was. Kirby took the Elf's sword and inhaled it, getting a green hat that matched Link's. Ash ordered Pikachu to be ready with a Thunderbolt by using a hand gesture./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do emwe/em do?" Rinda asked Rose in a whisper./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I'd call out a Pokémon, but they still don't like to listen to me. I know! They like you, you can tell them what to do. Here," she murmured, handing her a red box. "Just point this at the Pokémon, and it'll give you a list of moves you can tell them to use."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then what will you do?" Rinda wondered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Go see what we're up against," she answered softly. "I'm good at getting through places without being seen."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She went and peeked silently around the brick wall, even though Meta Knight signaled to her not to. She then quickly ran back. "There's no one there, guys. False alarm."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Is that so?" a growly voice cackled from the ship. They all spun around to see a giant white glove and a strange red-haired huge turtle looking down at them in amusement./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""A hand and a turtle? We can handle this, guys," Ash snorted, but then was surrounded in a sort of force field, as was Pikachu./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link fired an arrow at the hand, only to have it be set on fire and sent back at him. "Kyah!" he yelped as he ducked out of the way./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight pulled his cloak around himself and vanished, reappearing behind the two foes as Kirby distracted them. He probably would've been successful, except one of the Waddle Dee suddenly shouted, "Dwee!" No one could tell which one, or why that one had momentarily turned traitor. But as it was, the glove also placed the Masked Knight in another force field. It then turned and did the same to Rinda and Kirby, leaving only Rose, who ducked and hid behind a pipe./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She watched silently as a host of small mushroom monsters and turtles, some with wings, surrounded the large turtle and glove. "Good job, minions. Now we just gotta take these guys back to Bowser Castle, give the Mario Bros someone to hang out with. Let's just hope Mario doesn't get hungry and try to eat one of these little meatballs," the turtle snickered as he smirked at Meta Knight./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Narrowing his eyes, Meta Knight managed to struggle against the force field enough to throw Galaxia. "You missed," the glove laughed darkly, hitting him with an invisible attack that knocked him unconscious./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHe didn't,/em Rose thought with a nervous smile, as the sword had landed right next to her. emBut does he really think I'll be able to do anything with it? I'm just Rose. I don't know how to use a sword. Besides, the one time Ash got smart and tried to pick it up, he almost got turned into stir-fry. It's a good thing he's been around Pikachu so long./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She stayed hidden until all her friends were dragged off, except for the Waddle Three, who were all hiding somewhere. Even all of the Pokémon were taken with them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Huh. I thought you said there'd be one more girly, Master Hand. In fact, I could've sworn I counted one more girly," Bowser muttered as he oversaw his minions, crossing his arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm. Maybe we were wrong. Nonetheless, have your minions keep an eye out for her. She may have already gone further inland to find the non-hero," Master Hand muttered in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"When they were finally gone, too, Rose cautiously reached out for the sword. She winced away as soon as she first brushed against it, but after nothing happened, she went ahead and cautiously picked it up. "Well, Galaxia. I hope I can use you properly," she whispered, then rolled her eyes at herself. "Great, now I'm talking to a sword. I'll be as bad as Link, soon. But what do I do now?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose," she instantly heard a voice she didn't recognize call./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's there?!" she shouted, clenching the sword, as if its mere presence could help./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I don't really know how to explain it. You know how the Ancients were going to make games about your worlds?" the voice asked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah? What about that?" Rose demanded, trying to sound brave./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I'm one of the people who plays those games. One of the last ones. And I just accidentally kinda... sorta... lost a life on one," the voice answered sheepishly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What does that mean? I have no idea what you're talking about, whoever you are!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The voice answered fearfully, "It means that, I just was the one to finally unleash the great evil. After all these hundreds of years, I unleashed the great evil. I thought that it was just an old computer virus that would just effect the real world, I didn't know that the files I read that said there was another dimension were really true. If I knew what was going to happen, I wouldn't have played the game. I really wouldn't have, Rose. But now, I've read up on what's going on. And I've fixed up a transporter and come to help, although I can't stay here long."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A girl with shiny black hair and brown almond-shaped eyes, a Human, appeared from behind the brick wall. Without letting any hesitation into her voice, she took a deep breath and told Rose, "I'm Byte."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After another short pause, she added with a weak smile, "I'm a visiting 'Hero' from the Home Dimension. Will you be my Guide?"/p 


	13. The Mushroom Kingdom Badguy Convention

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Mushroom Kingdom Point, Bowser Castle:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link blearily blinked his eyes open to see a strange shorter man in red overalls chasing Kirby around a dungeon-like room./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No! No eat me, poyo! Help!" Kirby squawked as he leapt over the strange guy's head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link stood up and stood between Kirby and the guy, who was probably about as tall as Rose. Arms crossed, he shook his head at the little man./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But I'm-a not trying to eat him! I'm-a trying to a-catch-a da monster!" the guy argued. He wore a red cap with an 'M' on it that vaguely reminded Link of the insignia that Meta Knight bore on one of his shoulder pads. He also had brown hair, and blue eyes, with a rather large nose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link narrowed his eyes, and shook his head. "Not a monster. Star Warrior. Friend," he corrected the man quietly. "Link," he then declared, pointing to himself. "You are?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's-a me, Mario!" the guy said with a huge grin. Turning to two people Link hadn't noticed yet, Mario exclaimed, "Dey are my bro, Luigi; and Peach, my-a princess."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pleasure to meet you, Mister Link. You have funny ears," the blond-haired girl dressed in a light pink, frilly dress giggled. Link observed that she was taller than Mario, and about Luigi's height. "Like Mario said, I'm Princess Peach. I'm used to spending a lot of time in this dungeon, but I still wish you poor others didn't have to be stuck in here."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Fi suddenly leapt out of his sword and told him, "I am concerned, Master Link. This dungeon is not in my memory banks. I am afraid I will be unable to assist you in finding whatever treasures lie within. There is a 99.99% chance that this will not end well, seeing as how there is no way to tell what monsters lie within, either."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sword, Fi," Link ordered with a sigh./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very well, Master Link. Good luck," Fi sighed, disappearing again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I can-a tell you exactly what-a monsters lie a-within," Mario chuckled, seemingly not bothered by the disembodied voice. "Just-a Bowser, and he's an idiot."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey, bro, don't forget da glove guy," Luigi reminded him with a shudder. "Dat guy is scarier than month-old spaghetti, man!" Luigi was, as mentioned earlier, about as tall as Peach, so a bit shorter than Link. Probably around Rinda's height. He wore green overalls and a hat, matching Mario, actually. Except for the color, of course, and his hat had an "L" instead of an "M." He had the same mustache as his smaller brother, though./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dat's-a true, I guess," Mario shrugged in answer to Luigi's exclamation./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where's Meta Knight?" Link suddenly wondered, just the tiniest bit concerned that the Star Warrior wasn't there./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, you mean-a da blue meatball, right? Is his name a-Meta Knight? I kinda thought he said a-Meat-a Knight," Mario shrugged./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dat's just because all you ever think of is food," Luigi snickered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just like Kirbs over there," Ash laughed. "Maybe you and him can be friends, or something."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, poyo. Mario guy scary," Kirby disagreed. He had floated up to Link's head and was now standing on top of his hat./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where's Meta Knight?" Link demanded again, allowing his voice to grow a bit louder. The others continued to ignore him, making him sigh in agitation./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He's talking to Bowser and the glove," Rinda said quietly from behind him. He turned around and found her doing a drawing of a Pikachu looking quizzically at a fairy near a stream. "They took each of us and asked us some questions about the coming evil. We all told them basically the same thing: 'We have no clue what it is, and even if we did, we wouldn't tell you.'"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Peach agreed. "And me, Luigi, and Mario were already here. Bowser kidnapped us all with the glove's help yesterday morning."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yep!" Mario nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I wonder if Rosie's okay," Ash suddenly murmured. "I know MK left his sword with her... I just hope she didn't get electrocuted."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She will not have been," Meta Knight said calmly as he suddenly appeared behind Ash./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yikes!" Ash yelped, then spun around and glared at him. "They trusted you to come back yourself?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, I just did it to scare them," the masked Star Warrior shrugged in reply./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But how do you know the sword won't hurt her?" Rinda demanded, shutting her sketchbook and tucking her charcoal pencil in the leather-string binding./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I just do," Meta Knight assured her. "Trust me, she will be arriving here shortly."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, good, Meta Man did come back," a turtle suddenly said from the door. "All right, Ears. Your turn," he beckoned Link. "C'mon, I want to get home and catch up on watching my favorite TV show."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sighing, Link followed the turtle out. "I'm a Koopa Troopa, by the by. And you're an Elf, from what your pals say. Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Bowser might, but hey, he's Bowser. Y'know how it is, he's one of those egotistical maniac types."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know those well," Link murmured, thinking of Ganondorf./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Once they arrived at the throne room, sure enough, Bowser and 'Master Hand,' as Link learned he was named; interrogated him thoroughly. Thankfully, there wasn't any torture involved or anything like that. However, they quickly grew annoyed with the fact that all Link would do was nod or shake his head, depending on the question asked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Can you talk?" Bowser finally demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Then why don't you?" Master Hand growled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link shrugged./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Argh, at least the little blue guy talked, even if all he did was talk in riddles," Bowser groaned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Riddles?" Link questioned, making both badguys jump./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, some sort of hooey about a prophecy or something," Bowser explained. "So you can talk. Good. So, are you a hero guy?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Here we go again," Master Hand sighed. "Just send him back. Obviously, the one who we have not yet found must be the one who knows what is going on. When are our other hopeful allies supposed to arrive?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, the mucho evil guy from the place you called Hyrule should be here anytime, and Dreamland's baddie should be right behind him, followed by the Pokémonland no-do-gooder. Or is it do-no-gooder? Good-no-doer? Good-do-noer? I don't know, but whatever. Anywahoosit, Trust me, my Magikoopas are very quick fliers," Bowser reassured him, just as a penguin-like witch critter crashed through a window on a broom./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link instinctively grabbed a nearby barrel and pulled it over himself. "What's the weirdo doing?" the Magikoopa demanded. "Eh, whatever. Here's the Hyrule guy, Master Bowser."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Look, wretches," the new arrival grumped as he stood up from where the Magikoopa had dumped him on the ground and dusted himself off. "I don't know who you are, but you obviously don't know who you're messing with. I will have my revenge for this."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shuddering, Link stayed hidden. Sure, he had beaten Ganondorf several times before, but that didn't make him any less evil or scary./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Put me down! I'm a penguin, too! You ain't got no rights to treat me this way! I am a king, feather-head!" the penguin king from Dreamland was suddenly heard roaring. With a smirk, the new Magikoopa unceremoniously dropped him on the floor. "Ow! That ain't what I meant, and you knows it!" DeDeDe cranked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And, of course, last but not least, here comes Pokémonland's main badguy," Bowser grinned as a third and final Magikoopa crashed through a third and final window./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am Giovanni, and you will all pay for this," a evil, slimy looking guy threatened as he, too, picked himself up off the floor. "Why have you brought me to this dump?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Greetings, evil ones," Master Hand said calmly, clapping himself against a stone wall to get the others' attention. "I have brought you all here for a specific reason. But, rather than explain things myself, why don't we let our Princess friend do so?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link held his breath, expecting Peach or possibly Zelda to come in, angrily. But all he heard was a light-footed step, and then the sound of something being picked up and set down on his barrel./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Unhand me, foul beast. Is it not enough that I came in without fighting? Must you also pick me up and carry me around like a doll? I am your Princess," a voice he didn't recognize huffed, sounding tired./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Maybe so, but you're getting older, aren't you, Princess? Ripe old age of over eight hundred, you're not as young as you used to be, my dear," Master Hand sneered. "Now, Princess Baika, explain to these good, bad men why you are here; why emwe/em are here."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Master Hand has gathered you here because he wants you to stop the coming evil for him," Baika sighed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not emfor/em me, emwith/em me, love," Master Hand disagreed. "Get the facts right."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wait, why would we want to get rid of the coming evil? If it blows up the goodies, so much the better for us," Bowser disagreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Look, I have no idea what in Dreamland is goin' on here. Who da heck are all of you numbskulls, anyway?" DeDeDe grumped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We are all inhabitants of the same planet, my friends. And the reason why we want to stop it is so that we can be the supreme rulers of our planet, not it. Welcome, my friends, to the Mushroom Kingdom point of Nintendo World," Master Hand chortled darkly. "All I need is for you three to agree to assist me and Bowser in our schemes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You still haven't told us what your schemes are," Giovanni disagreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As the baddies argued, the Princess kicked her heels against the barrel. "Link, you are in there, correct?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link jumped, wondering how she knew his name. He nodded, then realized she couldn't see him, so resorted to quietly saying, "Yes, Princess Baika."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very good. Have you and the others found all the non-heroes?" she questioned anxiously. "The great evil has been unleashed, I can feel it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As his eyes widened, Link gulped. "Three," he answered softly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You're still missing the Mushroom Kingdom's non-hero?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes. And Rose," Link told her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose is missing? Hmm. Well, hopefully she will return, soon," Baika worried. Changing the subject, she muttered, "Who is the penguin guy? I mean, I remember there being a very minor badguy character created for the Dreamland point who was a penguin named DeDeDe. But he was never supposed to be king."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link smirked a bit. Meta Knight had mentioned that King DeDeDe had pretty much made himself king, and Dreamland's inhabitants had just sort of gone along with it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Anyway, Link. Just let me get off this barrel, and you need to return to the others. Tell them that I am here, and that I am safe. But my immortality drive is starting to run down. I still look young, and probably always will, but I will not be in this world for much longer. I know that one of the non-heroes is the Heir, and I know which one, as well, but I cannot tell you who yet. Just make sure that you heroes keep them safe for as long as you can, all right?" Baika ordered. "Now, let's hope Rose and the non-hero from this point get here soon."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link hurried back to the dungeon after bowing to the Princess, who was very pretty even if she was supposedly old. When he got to his destination, he wasn't at all surprised to find Ash, Kirby, and Mario having a fight over who was the biggest hero. Meta Knight was just staying out of it, watching them in a sort of disbelieving amusement./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""For heroes, they are acting very petty," he commented as Link slipped through the bars. (This dungeon wasn't exactly all that secure.) Seeing that Link seemed surprised that he noticed his presence, he chuckled softly. "Yes, my friend, it works both ways. I am both good at surprising people with my sudden appearances, and at never being surprised myself. Very little ever catches me off guard."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Princess Baika is in this castle," Link murmured down to his Star Warrior ally as he leaned against the wall near him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight's eyes widened a bit. "And that is very little," he muttered. "You have caught me off guard, I will admit that freely. But what is she doing here?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Master Hand brought her. Each point's villains, too," Link told him, not answering the posed question. "He wants to stop the coming evil, and rule in its place. Baika is growing old, she says we must protect the non-heroes and the Heir."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That was quite a speech for you, my Elvin friend. But who is the Heir?" Meta Knight questioned, eyes glowing a confused deep green as he stared off into space, wrapped in his cloak./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""One of the non-heroes. Rose or Rinda, probably," Link murmured. "Probably not Thdwee."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After nodding once, the Masked Knight reminded him, "It could also possibly be the non-hero from this point, do not rule out that possibility."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Link agreed. "Also, the great evil has been unleashed. I still don't know what it is."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm. That cannot be good. I wonder why Rose has not arrived yet," the smaller of the two worried. "I really did expect her to have come by now, even if only by being captured herself." His heart sank as he suddenly considered the possibility that the Dark Bibliochimera had reached her while she was alone, and that she could now be trapped in a story world. "Please let that not be so," he whispered to no one in particular, closing his eyes with a sigh./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, look, it's-a Link!" Mario shouted, interrupting the ongoing argument between the other three heroes. "Now-a dat da badguys have a-talked to all of us, is it-a time to go?" Without waiting for an answer, he whooped, "It's-a go-time!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not just yet," Meta Knight shook his head firmly before Mario had a chance to actually run off. "We must wait for Rose, at least one more night. We cannot go on without the first of the non-heroes. Besides, I have a feeling that she will bring the non-hero from your point with her." He turned and stared off into space again, hoping that his earlier premonition was wrong. emHurry, young one. Do not keep us waiting much longer/em, he thought, choosing to assume for the time being that she was just being held up by something less sinister./p 


	14. Byte's Story

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe day before, not far from the Mushroom Kingdom Coast:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"So, wait. You're from the Ancient's world? From the land of... Japan?" Rose managed to remember./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"Well, I go to school in Japan, but I live in America," the girl shrugged in reply./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"What's 'America?'" Rose demanded, even more confused. Byte had grabbed her hand after asking her to be her Guide and started dragging her further inland, saying they had no time to waste./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte sighed. "Fine. I'll just tell you my whole story as we walk, all right?"/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAfter hesitating a moment, Rose nodded once. "Okay."/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAs Rose picked up the smallest of the three Waddle Dee traveling with them and began to carry him since he seemed tired, Byte began to tell her story./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"So this is how it all started, this morning..."/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"******************************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It's just another normal Saturday. I resist actually waking up for as long as I can, but eventually my brain decides it's not letting me have any more sleep. I blink my eyes open and look at the clock in the glass of my room's fake window. It's 10:00 A.M., World Time, July 15th, of the year 2818./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"My room's window is fake because I live near the center of a giant apartment block. Besides, I also live in the megacity of America. No one has real windows anymore, not since the World Government banned going Outside in the 2400's./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I know this must be confusing, so I'll try to explain. In the 2200's, the whole world was taken over by a political group that called themselves the World Government. They aren't bad or anything, the world's been completely at peace for over five hundred years, but they have a lot of rules. Not being allowed to go Outside is one of them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"We can't go Outside, not because it's dangerous or anything (it isn't,) but because the Government says so. The reason they outlawed it is they said we Humans were 'harming' the Outside, even though we weren't really. So, everyone stays inside all the time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I don't have to go to the megacity of Japan today, since there's no school on Saturdays, but I do anyway. I grimace as I look up at the fake sky projected onto the ceiling as I head to the nearest teleporter station. Once you've seen the real sky, there's no going back./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"No one has cars or anything anymore, they're not necessary when you can get to anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It's 10:30 when I get to the teleporter. If you were Outside, which I will be soon, it'd actually be the middle of the afternoon in Japan, and it'd actually be night here in America. But the whole world has one timezone now, and when you're inside all the time, away from the sun and the stars and the moon, you can't tell a difference, anyway./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Once in Japan, I look to make sure no one's watching, then hack the teleporter to send me to my secret hideout: a cave in the area that used to be known as Kyoto. I picked here, because Shigeru Miyamoto, one of my heroes, got the idea for the Legend of Zelda series when he was a kid, going off on adventures in the Kyoto countryside. The caves he explored inspired the puzzle dungeons Link has to travel through. So I picked a cave, because who knows? Maybe this is the cave where he first got the idea for Link./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kyoto's in ruins, now, but not because of a war or anything. It's just been abandoned for hundreds of years. I laugh freely as I breathe fresh air and feel the warm sun on my face. These simple pleasures that I feel are things that most people spend their whole lives without ever experiencing, anymore. I could be arrested if the Government ever found out I come out here, but I don't care. It's so worth it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Inside my cave, I've set up a gamer's paradise. Most people play really high-tech, submersive/interactive stuff now, but I'm old school. Like, seriously old school. I play games by a company named Nintendo, which hasn't been around since the early 2020's./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I check things over to make sure nothing's been stolen. My stuff in here is valuable artifacts. The way I find it is I go digging through old ruins, then I take all the consoles and games and other stuff that I find to the black market and get them repaired, giving the repair-people other stuff I've found as payment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I can literally play any Nintendo game ever made, as far as I know. I have a Gameboy Advance, A Wii U, A 3DS, an NES, an SNES, and also a 64. (That last one was the hardest to find.) The Wii is my favorite, though./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I'm especially pumped, today, though. I'd read in the history books that the last game that Nintendo really got into programming was called "Kirby and the Monstrous Lightning." However, it was revealed about then that Sony and Microsoft had put a computer virus into every Nintendo console ever made, ever since the beginning. And whenever anyone got a game-over or even just lost a life, it put the whole world closer to having this mega-virus go off. So Nintendo had to recall every one of their systems, and it shut the already-struggling company down./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But, there were a few kids who were dying of cancer in different areas of the world (a disease which doesn't exist anymore, thankfully,) and their last wish was to get to play the last Kirby game. So, even though it wasn't finished, Nintendo made three disks and gave them to those kids. After the kids played through the game, the disks were taken back to the Nintendo headquarters and locked away in the archives./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But I went looking through the ruins, the other day, and I actually found a copy. I'm so psyched, I love the Kirby games best. I mean, who wouldn't love a pink marshmallow that goes to save the world? His blue knight friend, Meta Knight, is also really cool (and secretly adorable, although he'd probably chase after me with his sword for saying so,) and Bandana Dee is so lovable and earnest. I've always kind of hated King DeDeDe, though./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I mean, I love Mario and Link and the others, too, but the 'Poyo' team will always have a special place in my heart./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I load the game, sitting down in a beanbag in front of my TV, which my old Wii U is plugged into. I grin as the Kirby theme plays and I press 'start.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The opening cutscene is pretty cool; there's a storm, and then Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee go to stop a storm monster. I frown, usually a game like this has four playable characters. Once the level starts, there is a fourth character, but it's just a silhouette. I sigh, apparently this is one of those parts Nintendo didn't have the chance to program. This game was never completely finished, I just hope they managed to finish the story mode so I can find out how everything plays out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The silhouette already has a voiceover, at least. It turns out to be a girl. She's pretty cool, she can use a sword like MK, or Copy Abilities like Kirby. I've always wished for a girl Kirby hero, I've made up so many OC's of my own. I just wonder what she was supposed to look like. Maybe they hadn't had a chance to come up with a design, or something./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She never shows up in any of the cutscenes, but I don't care. But then, a Gordo comes out of nowhere, knocking Meta Knight (who I'm currently being) offscreen, his Japanese voice actor (I personally prefer his American voice, the one in the anime, not Brawl. His Brawl voice is creepy,) giving a shout. I groan and hit the pause button as the machine plays the cheery little 'you just lost a life!' tune./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After grabbing the bottle of water I brought with me and taking a sip, I hit 'continue.' All the characters appear back onscreen, but they're all frozen. Dangitall, did I get a glitchy copy? I press the reset button with a sigh, but still, nothing happens. The music is still playing, the surrounding monsters are just fine, but the heroes are... frozen. They won't move. But then, things get even weirder. There's an evil laugh, and both the silhouette character and the Meta Knight character seem to be... struggling? What the derp is going on? Is this a prelude to a midboss battle, or something?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A voiceover says, "Thanks, little girl. You just finally lost the last life to be lost. I am free now. And isn't it wonderful? Not only will you never be able to play any of your games again, but in the Dimension where the heroes really exist, they will soon be frozen too."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who are you talking to?" the Meta Knight onscreen demands in his American anime voice, then freezes again. Seriously, what the derp is going on? Why'd his voice actor just change?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Player, little hero," the voice answers. "Your life is just a game, I'm afraid."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Wait a second, are these characters... sentient? I am so confused, and kind of freaked out, too. I switch the TV off before things get any weirder, then pull out my handheld supercomputer. "Access Nintendo's old files," I order it, setting it on a table and watching as a hologram pops up above it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Access denied, private files. Please enter password," it chirps back to me in a Kirby voice. I programmed it to do that, because I'm just awesome like that./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Password is: Dreamers worldwide unite, 193280," I tell it. I cracked into Nintendo's old files months ago. Their security was ancient, and pretty much failed. Not a surprise, seeing as how they died out so long ago./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Access granted," my computer tells me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Search 'other dimension,'" I declare./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It thinks for several minutes. Geez, is there really nothing in there about it? This supercomputer can search the whole Web for anything in a billionth of a second, it shouldn't take this long to find a few files./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Finally, it chirps, "One file found."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Open file," I order, leaning forward excitedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Access denied. Password?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Gargh. What's the password? I sigh and flip the TV back on to see if anything's changed. Nothing has, although all four heroes are almost out of health from monsters randomly running into them as they walk/fly/waddle past./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What can I do?" I wonder aloud. If this is actually the virus that shut Nintendo down, if these characters are actually sentient, I can't leave them here./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, I remember something. If the buttons control the characters, maybe I could use the buttons as a sort of communication device. Like, by pressing them in Morse Code, or something. It's worth a try. I switch so I'm in control of Meta Knight, I figure he'd be the one most likely to understand. I think a moment, then use the '2' button to type, "Can you hear me?" over and over again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is happening?" he murmurs, still using his American (technically Spanish, I guess,) voice. "I feel like I want to take flight, but I cannot. I am frozen."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Poyo?" Kirby asks him quizzically, although that might just be one of the little quirk things that was inserted for when you don't move for long enough./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, the Meta Knight character's eyes widen. "Morse Code," he whispers./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"His eyes turn toward the screen. "Is there actually a... 'Player,' out there?" he murmurs./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I start feverishly typing, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" This is like a dream come true, in a way. I'm talking to one of my favorite characters. This is unbelievable./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I am sorry, Player, but the games are over," he sighs./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Maybe not. Maybe not," I type, doing it twice so I know he'll feel it. "What's the password? What's the password?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Password?" he murmurs, lost. Dangitall. He doesn't know, does he?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Password?" the silhouette character asks, still using her Japanese voice. "Password: The hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere," she says./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Meta Knight character looks at her, confused. "Who are you? I do not believe we have ever met." That's weird, they've been fighting alongside each other for the past several hours./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere," she repeats, then gets knocked off screen by a passing Grizzo, followed closely by Bandana Dee. Something tells me that they're not coming back./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Bandana Dee does after all, but the silhouette character doesn't. She's replaced by Keeby, the yellow Kirby. What is going on? "Sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me," I type slowly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry? What are you sorry for? What is happening?" Meta Knight demands, sounding sort of panicked. I flip off the TV, a lump in my throat. I can't watch them go through losing all their lives and then not coming back. I just can't./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I pick back up my computer. "The hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere," I tell it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Access granted," it says. So the silhouette character knew what she was talking about. I wonder if she was sentient, too, or if she's just a random program like the monsters seem to be./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I don't have time to wonder that now, as a written file pops up. "Translate," I command the computer. It does so, and I begin to read./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""If you are reading this, you have found the last remaining link to the Other Dimension, wherein is Nintendo World. It also means that Nintendo no longer exists in the Home Dimension./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Nintendo World is in danger. The virus that shut us down will also go off in the Other Dimension, where all of the heroes are actually alive, as their own people. The Other Dimension was created as the precursor to video games, what video games should have been. Visiting 'Heroes' would have gone off on adventures with the heroes, or Guides, to help them." What the derp? So Kirby and Meta Knight and Link and Mario are all real, somewhere? And I can go there and adventure with them?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I fangirl a bit, then remember the characters onscreen. I have to find some way to help them. "When it goes off, it will travel from the unfinished, forbidden point," a map appears, which I study real quick, and then continue reading. "When it reaches the heroes, wherever they are, they will be frozen, as well. The characters in the games are already beyond saving, as soon as it goes off." The lump in my throat comes back. So the game is really over, forever. I can never play another Nintendo game, or the characters will just meet the same fate that the Dreamland Team is currently coming to./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I hide my face in my hands. If I had had any idea, I would have never picked up a game. I would've just been normal and played the modern, boring, unimaginative games. I would've avoided a lot of bullying and teasing, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly determined, I begin reading again. I have to help the real heroes, the ones in this 'Nintendo World.' I don't know how, but I do. I read the rest of the letter quickly, reading how to build a transporter to take me to the Other Dimension. It's ancient history stuff, I'll just need to hack a teleporter a bit. And then, once I'm there, I need to find the heroes. I need to tell them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But just then, another letter appears, one saying it's from 'Princess Baika' of Nintendo World. It says that I must find one of the non-heroes and help her find the others. It also says that I can only be in Nintendo World a short time before I'll be brought back here. But that's all that's required of me, for now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a determined nod, I go and hack my teleporter I have here. When I come out, I'm behind a brick wall. I freak out a bit as I hear all my favorite character's voices on the other side. I just want to run out and hug them all, these characters have been my best friends for years. They're what I turn to when no one will talk to me, since I'm 'weird.' But I somehow restrain myself. I then hear footsteps coming towards me, so I hide behind a Mario pipe right by me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose! What do you think you're doing?" a girl's voice hisses./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Someone who looks like a manga or anime character peeks around the wall, but doesn't see me. "False alarm, guys," she says as she runs off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But then Bowser and Master Hand appear and carry off all the heroes. I'm not sure what to do, when I hear the girl, Rose, say, "Well, Galaxia. I hope I can use you properly." I fangirl yet again, if Galaxia's out there, I want to go grab it and swing it around for awhile. Then I remember, I'd be killed if I tried. Dangitall./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, I remember what I'm actually supposed to be doing. I try to briefly explain things to the girl, then step out to where she can see me. "I'm a visiting 'Hero' from the Home Dimension. Will you be my Guide?"/p 


	15. The Fourth and Final(?) Non-Hero

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSomewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I understood most of it, but some stuff makes no sense," Rose sighed as the Human finished her story./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Like what?" Byte inquired, pushing her black hair out of her eyes for the umpteenth time. "I knew I should have worn my hair up today."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Crossing her arms, Rose asked, "Like, what's a fangirl?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Long story, but it's sort of like a fan. Only a fan who's a girl, and tends to go a bit crazy over stuff she likes. I'm a fangirl," Byte explained with a shrug./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, so what's the buttons about? Like '2' button and 'pause' button?" Rose demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Human shrugged again. "They're just buttons on the controller that you play the games with."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, and what about the Dreamland heroes? What happened to them? And who was the silhouette character?" Rose threw more questions at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know, I didn't check on them again. They're probably gone now, though. I hadn't collected all that many lives yet, I just started playing today," Byte sighed mournfully. "And I don't know who the silhouette character was. I wish Nintendo had actually developed her, she seemed cool."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sadly, Rose rubbed her forehead with one hand. "So what's gonna happen to the other characters in all the other games?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know, whatever normally happens to them when they're not being played, I guess. I wonder if they had, like, lives of their own when they were offscreen. That would just make it even worse," her Human companion murmured. "I really, really, wish I had never touched a game. I can't believe I'm the one to end the magic."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Magic?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, not literally. But playing a game feels like magic. You get to explore new worlds, meet cool new characters, learn their backstories. Well, with some characters, anyway," Byte told her eagerly, then drooped again. "Now, no one will ever get to have that feeling again."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No," Rose disagreed, hugging Thdwee to herself as she walked. Deedee and Sailor Dee looked up at her in confusion. "There's gotta be some way to fix things. Maybe when we get rid of the evil here, it'll fix things there."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Maybe so," Byte muttered, not really believing it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, a small voice yelped, "Hey, Mario! Help me!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's that?" Rose wondered. "Who's Mario?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! Mario! Give me a hand!" it squawked again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It sounds like it's coming from that ? block," Byte said. "It sounds like a Toad!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's a Toad?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, hit the block and find out!" Byte grinned. She loved trying to get other people into things she liked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose couldn't quite reach the block, which continued to yelp and call for help, no matter how far she reached or jumped. Finally, she took Galaxia out of where she had put it in her knapsack (it didn't really fit) and used it to bonk the block. Out popped a creature she recognized from the book. "Oh, yeah, that's a Toad," she remembered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks! Have a reward! Oh, wait. You're not Mario! Agh! Mario! Help! A monster! Ack!" the Toad started yelping, running back and forth in crazed panic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do I really look like a monster?" Rose asked with a sigh. All three Waddle Dee nodded at her eagerly. "Gee, thanks. I feel so loved."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Byte giggled. "At least they're honest, the adorable little marshmallows." She suddenly picked Sailor Dee up and hugged him. "I've wished to hug a Waddle Dee for so long, and now I actually can. This is so cool."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee..." Sailor Dee sighed, glaring at Deedee as he snickered silently. emYou won't be laughing when she decides it's time to hug on you, Mister Royal,/em he thought. He then 'smiled' smugly as the other Waddle Dee's laughter stopped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Anyway, Mister Toad," Rose sighed to the little toadstool-person, "What were you doing in that block?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Calming down a bit, the Toad answered, "Bowser put me in there, of course. I was waiting for Mario to let me out."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's Mario?" Rose wondered again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Seriously? You've never heard of Mario? Have you been living under a Thwomp, or something?" the Toad muttered incredulously as he gave her a Look./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's a Thwomp?" Rose demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, boy," Byte and the Toad groaned in unison. The Toad then continued, "It's all cause I'm so slow and stuff. All the others can run quicker, so I'm always the first Toad to get stuffed in a block. And I'm also usually one of the last ones to be saved. You've heard of Mail Toad? Well, I'm his brother, Fail Toad. That's what everyone calls me, anyway. I'm really more of a geeky type. I have so many ideas for cool inventions, but no one cares."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's not very nice," Rose murmured sympathetically. "Wait. You're considered a failure?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, that's what I just said, Lady. You look sort of like Peach, by the way. Are you related to her?" the Toad inquired politely./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Raising an eyebrow, Rose asked, "Who's Peach?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wow. You're just completely out of it, aren't you?" the Toad laughed as he crossed his arms. "But why do you care that I'm a failure?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm looking for the biggest failure in the Mushroom Kingdom. They're a non-hero, and they're going to help save the world," she told him, grinning a bit./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What sort of evil? And what do you mean? It's Mario's job to save the world. Duh," the Toad disagreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, it's Mario's job to save the Mushroom Kingdom. The world is much bigger," Byte explained to him, grabbing Rose's knapsack and pulling out the Ancients' book from Hyrule, which Rose still carried around with her. Rose had showed it to her earlier when she had pulled it out to find out where Bowser Castle was, which was where they were now walking to. But as she pulled it out, she bumped into another book. A black one./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"We, of course, know what this book was. The reason it was back in Rose's knapsack was she didn't think it was safe to leave it on the ship, unguarded. "Hmm," Byte murmured quietly, but left it there, for the moment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as Rose had started explaining the points and things to the Toad, Byte pulled it back out and opened it, curious to see what it was about. She had a feeling that it was probably Rose's journal, or something, and if it seemed private, she'd put it back. But if it was just a story, she might borrow it for awhile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnce upon a time, there was a girl whom everyone called a loser. She was just a weirdo who talked about games that hadn't been popular for centuries. But one day, she was able to go the land of her dreams. It was a wonderful place, a place where all of her favorite characters were really alive. /em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe bossy Princess said that she would have to leave soon after she arrived. But there was someone who could help her to stay, forever. All she would have to do was find and cooperate with them. They were waiting for her as she read her own story in a Dark book. They weren't too far from where she was at that very moment, even. After she looked up from the book and glanced around herself nervously, /em(which she actually did just before she read that,em) she soon learned that all she'd have to do to find them was speak the spell within the book. It would only take a moment, and she'd be taken to them. She could help them, and they would let her stay in this world forever. It would be so simple, and she'd never have to go back to her own sad, broken world. A world where just going Outside could get her in trouble./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As Byte took a deep breath, ready to read the spell, she suddenly heard Rose gasp. "No! Byte! That's a Dark Bibliochimera, get out of it!" The Manga-Head snatched the book from the Human and shoved it back into the bottom of the knapsack as the Waddle Dee and Toad stared at them in confusion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose, you don't understand. I don't want to go back to my world. I want to stay here, as a visiting 'Hero.' I want to get to fight monsters alongside Meta Knight and Kirby, save the Princess with Mario, defeat Ganondorf with Link," Byte shook her head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Everything in it is a lie. Even if you read far enough in to become trapped, you wouldn't really get to stay here," Rose told her gently, not knowing that the book had been tempting Byte in a different way./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry, Rose, but I'm going now. I hope you can find the heroes yourselves, hopefully I'll be able to catch up with you soon," Byte apologized, then closed her eyes and recited the simple spell from the book, even though it was a language she didn't recognize./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a flash of light, Byte vanished. "Oh, daisies. That can't be good," Rose gulped. "Where was she going? Is she going to help... the great evil, somehow?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know, but it looked pretty bad," the Toad agreed. "Look, if it's Bowser Castle you need to get to, I can help. The book you said you need to find will probably be somewhere in Peach Castle, which is close by. Let's go see if we can get ahold of that, first, and then we'll get a Yoshi to carry us the rest of the way."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," Rose agreed hesitantly, as the Waddle Three resumed their spots in her arms and on her head and shoulder. "Let's just hope Byte's not getting herself too deep into something."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"********************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Byte wobbled a bit as she landed somewhere dark. "Ugh. That wasn't like teleporting at all," she groaned as she rubbed her temples. The magic, or whatever-it-was, had given her a headache./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A static-y humanoid creature appeared before her. It looked sort of like what you got on an old TV screen when there wasn't a signal, only human-shaped. "Oh, good. You have come. I knew you would, soon after I was awakened," it said in a fuzzy, robotic voice. A voice that sounded like one she had already heard somewhere today, but she couldn't remember where./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who are you? What do I have to do to stay here?" Byte demanded eagerly. "Where are we, anyway?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Welcome, little girl, to the Forbidden point. Isn't it lovely?" it chortled darkly, reaching out and taking hold of her, turning her around to look at what was around them. It just looked like a bunch of rusting construction equipment, the kind that people had used back when Nintendo first started, before they developed floating technology for vehicles. Although, even that was mostly obsolete now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"There were also several science-y looking buildings. "That's where they made the creatures," the static-man explained. "This point was to be another land, but they hadn't figured out what just yet."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," Byte shivered. This place was creepy, and the guy still hadn't let go of her shoulders. His hands were frigid. "So. Who are you?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My name is Tedium. You know, the opposite of excitement and imagination. Makes sense, doesn't it, when I live in a place like this? And I've been stuck here for soooooo long. But now, you've come. And you'll be able to stay here forever, just like I promised, little girl. But it won't be the land of your dreams for much longer, I'm afraid. Soon it will be emmy/em dream world. And you're going to help." He seemed to laugh, almost, as he started to squeeze her shoulders./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ow. Stop. That hurts!" she argued, trying to twist out of his grip. She knew martial arts, if she could only get loose-/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But that didn't happen. Suddenly, she went limp for a second as Tedium disappeared into her. Then, she stood back up, her eyes having been replaced by the static that Tedium was made of. "Let's go freeze some heroes," she cackled evilly in a voice that was a mix of hers and the great evil's. "They won't know what hit them."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"**********************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ha! Found it!" Rose grinned as she pulled a book off a shelf in the library at Peach's Castle. She flipped pages wildly until she reached the ones about the different points. "Not on Dreamland, not on Pokémonland, ha! here on Hyrule," she grinned as she found a name. "Look! It says Fail Toad! That's you, right?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yep, that's me," Fail Toad groaned as she shoved the book in his face. "So now what? Oh, there's something here. I can read it!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Read it! Read it!" Rose squealed, excited to have found the last non-hero./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, chill, Lady. I am the non-hero from the Mushroom Kingdom. I hereby swear to protect Nintendo World, even if it means my life." Fail Toad's eyes widened as he squawked, "No. Nuh-uh. I take it back. Nobody heard me read that!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emToo late, peasant/em, Deedee laughed to himself as he coolly observed the toadstool man's distress./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose snatched the book back as Princess Baika's letter appeared. "'My dear Toad, this letter must be short. As you read this, there will be a monster not far from you. You must get away, and quickly. Go to the Warp Zone under the castle, and take the second pipe from the left. It will take you to an identical Warp Zone under Bowser Castle, not far from the other heroes at all. More importantly, by the time you read this letter, the great evil will have everything he needs to attack. You need to next go to Nintendo City. You will learn what to do once you get there.'" Rose read, her voice growing more and more panicked as she read. "Monster? What mon-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Just then, a fearful roar shook the ground, and something crashed through the library windows. "Ack! Help! Mario!" Fail Toad yelped, beginning his crazed panic dance again. "It's Petey Piranha!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Run!" Rose screamed, scooping up Thdwee and Fail Toad as the other two Waddle Dee jumped onto her. The monster reached out a vine and grabbed her ankle. "Daisies," she squeaked. She threw the Waddle Three, Fail Toad, and the book as far away from her as she could. "Go to the Warp Zone! I'll catch up when I can! Tell the others I'm right behind!" she ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What are you going to do?" Fail Toad shouted to her in terror./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling determinedly, even though there was fear in her eyes, she pulled Galaxia out of her knapsack and turned to face the monster. "I might not be a hero, but I can be a warrior. Now, go!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Fail Toad nodded, grabbing Thdwee's hand and dragging him toward the Warp Zone while Deedee and Sailor Dee followed. Thdwee struggled as much as he could, thinking, emNo! I have to help her! She's my best friend!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHe's quickly becoming the Deedee to her Baika,/em Deedee thought to himself, but not where the other two could hear it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know, I don't want to leave the kid either. But we have to get out of here!" Toad told him. Thdwee finally nodded and allowed himself to be dragged away./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Rose was trying her best to fight the monster. It was hard, though, when she had never had any training with a sword. Even though it wasn't too big for her to handle, she still didn't know how to use it. Yet, at the same time, she felt like she had finally found what she was meant to do. It didn't feel like it did when she was struggling to catch a Pokémon. It felt like she was learning something she had always been meant to learn./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The monster was beating her, and she knew it. Finally, with a weak groan, she squeezed the sword's hilt tight. "Please, Galaxia. Lend me your power!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The sword started to glow, and she took a deep breath. She knew what to do, now. She glared at the monster and lifted Galaxia above her head. "I wasn't ever meant to be a Trainer. I was meant to be part of the Star Warriors!" she shouted bravely, somehow knowing that was the truth./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Maybe that's why she was a failure. Maybe that's why all of the non-heroes were failures. They weren't really failures, they were just on the wrong point. Rinda was good with Pokémon, but not with a sword. She was the opposite. What about Thdwee and Fail Toad, she wondered?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She didn't have time to think about it now. With a shout, she leapt bravely back into battle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"**************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Calm yourself. Start over," Meta Knight ordered the panicking creature Mario said was called a Toad. He had joined the ones who were already in the dungeon moments before, bringing the Waddle Three and a tense atmosphere with him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm Fail Toad. I was traveling with these two girls, Rose and Byte. But Byte said some sort of spell or something and disappeared. And then, me and Rose found out that I'm the non-hero from this point. But then, Petey Piranha showed up, and Rose told us to run here while she fought the monster! And I don't know if she's okay, or if the monster gobbled her up, or-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rose is fighting a monster? But she doesn't know how to use a sword! She'll be killed!" Rinda worried, slightly crazily./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She will not be," Meta Knight disagreed. "Who is Byte?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Still breathless, Fail Toad answered, "A visiting 'Hero' from the Home Dimension, Rose said. I don't know what that means. But like I said, she was reading this evil-looking book and then she disappeared after she said a spell."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That cannot be good," Meta Knight sighed, then fretted to himself, emSo, it was not even just a Dark Bibliochimera. It was something even worse, it seems./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have a feeling dat da next time one of us runs-a into dis-a Byte, she's a-not gonna be on our a-side anymore," Mario mumbled, crossing his arms and looking thoughtfully at the ceiling./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Right then, they heard a groan. "That sounds like someone who's hurt," Peach murmured compassionately from where she sat in the corner./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Eyes wide, Kirby agreed, scared, "It sounded like Rose, poyo!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sure enough, Rose appeared, scratched up pretty badly, but alive. "I d-did it," she smiled weakly. "I'm not a Trainer. I never was. I'm a Star Warrior." She then collapsed just outside of the dungeon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's she talking about? She's gone bananas," Ash gasped as he threw open the door of the cell and carefully pulled Rose in, with Pikachu and Bulbasaur's help. Link pulled a Heart Potion out from seemingly nowhere and tipped it into Rose's mouth. Her breathing evened back out, it now seemed like she was just sleeping peacefully, rather than having fainted in pain./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby ran over to hug her, but Meta Knight held out a hand to stop him. "Let her have her rest. A warrior's first solo battle is one of their hardest."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You mean, that idiocy she was spouting about being a Star Warrior..." Rinda murmured, looking at the Masked Knight in surprise. Everyone else looked over at him, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding once, he replied, as his eyes glowed a deep orange of thought, "Was correct, to some extent. Just as I suspicioned. All of you are not really failures, you were just never able to discover your true talents where you were. And that, my friends, is how we will beat the coming evil. Which, I have a feeling will very soon arrive."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Nintendo City," Rose blinked her eyes open for a moment and muttered. Already drifting back off, she clarified, "We need to go to Nintendo City."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link nodded and stood up. "We can't wait for her to fully heal. She can rest on the ship. We need to go."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of the other heroes nodded once, in unison. "Let us fly," Meta Knight ordered, spreading his wings and leading the others out, Ash and Link carrying Rose between them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wait," Fail Toad called out to them. "There's a quicker way back to the ship. I know which of the pipes in the Warp Zone will take us to the coast. Come on!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The heroes and non-heroes followed him. No one was too excited about using plumbing for transportation, (except for the Mario Bros, of course,) but they did anyway./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""If you don't mind, I'd rather stay here," Peach smiled as she gave Mario a farewell kiss on the nose. "Take care of yourself, Mario."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I a-will, Peach," he grinned back at her before he back-flipped into a pipe with a, "Woo-hoo!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Tell-a Daisy I said-a bye!" Luigi ordered as he jumped in last. "Let's-a go!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," Peach giggled. "I will. Take care of yourself, Luigi!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe heroes returned safely to the ship and began the voyage to Nintendo City./em/p 


	16. Nintendo City

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSeveral days later:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ha! Stay sharp!" Meta Knight shouted as he leapt lithely out of the way of Rose's sword and sent a swipe back at her. Completely in his element at the moment, he was quite enjoying himself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Grr! Why won't you stay still?" Rose grunted as she spun around, trying to follow the Star Warrior as he jumped around the ship. Once she had finished her short recovery, he had convinced Link to lend her his sword (she had returned Galaxia) so that he could begin to train her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""If I stayed still, it would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise, young one. Now, do not forget to maintain a constant guard," he reminded her, swinging at her and barely missing, making her shiver a bit. She knew that he would never actually hit her, but it was still unnerving to have magic gold come within inches of your face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She did, indeed, have a bit a natural talent with the sword, but she was still only an amateur. And he was clearly demonstrating this, as he dueled circles around her. It was sort of embarrassing to be so easily bested by someone less than half her size./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Come on, Rose. You can do it!" Rinda called out helpfully from where Ash was helping her train with the Pokémon on a different part of the deck./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ignoring her, Rose groaned as she tried to launch another attack, "Look, I'm never going to be all that good at this. What's the point of trying?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do not look down upon yourself so," he disagreed as he leapt over her head, avoiding yet another strike. "You have already proven that you have the spirit of a warrior, and the ability to battle and win. Now, rather than lunge at me every time you think you see an opening, time yourself. Keep your guard up, and wait until the moment is right. A good swordsman spends much more time defending than attacking."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Determined, she nodded once. "Okay. I'll keep trying, for awhile longer, anyway."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You will keep trying as long as is necessary. Nintendo World needs you, you cannot just turn around now because it is too hard," he told her firmly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Rinda frowned as Ash waited on her. "Come on, Elfie. Make your move, give your Pokémon a command. I won't wait much longer before I tell Pikachu his next attack."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry, I just have trouble remembering each Pokémon's moves. Can I check the Pokédex again?" she pleaded, flustered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. You won't always have time to pull the Pokédex out, you need to have your Pokémon's attacks memorized. Now, you're working with Lapras. That's a water Pokémon, what's a basic attack that most water Pokémon have?" her Trainer friend prompted her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, right. Um, Lapras. Use Bubble Beam!" she commanded, gesturing toward Pikachu./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Lapras!" the Lapras giggled, and shot bubbles at the electric mouse, who deftly evaded them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smirking, Ash teased her, "Good, but not great. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pika-pika-PIKACHU!" Pikachu shouted, as he sent a shock toward Lapras./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Lapras, dodge the attack!" Rinda yelled, just quick enough for her Pokémon to obey./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Great! That was really good," Ash congratulated her, then the two both jumped as Meta Knight suddenly roared,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Delinquents! Return my cloak!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sounding ticked off, Rose added, "And my hair bow!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's going on?" Rinda chortled, bemused, as the battle paused and she and Ash both moved to where they could see the swordsmen around the mast./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Waddle Three and Kirby took my hair bow!" Rose huffed as she comically scampered past, chasing Deedee, who was the one holding the ribbon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And my cloak, as well," Meta Knight sulked as he glared up at Sailor Dee, who was currently using the wings from the cloak to stay maddeningly just out of reach. "I am your leader! Do not forget your place!" he yelled up at the Waddle Dee, who made a face at him. "Deedee is obviously a bad influence," he muttered to himself, crossing his arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm not surprised," Rose sighed, glaring at the little terror. "He's a spoiled brat. The only reason he ever gets away with it is he is adorable, and he knows it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Never a good combination," Link quietly put in his two cents' worth from where he sat in the crow's nest, looking at drawings of inventions with Fail Toad. Although, none of them called him Fail Toad anymore. Per his request, they had started calling him Geek Toad instead./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Indeed," Meta Knight muttered. "You will be sorry for this later."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Make them sorry for it now," Rinda suggested slyly. "Chase them around with the swords for awhile. Give Rose a chance to fight someone other than you."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Looking sideways over at Rose, Meta Knight nodded slowly as his eyes began to glow green in amusement. "That sounds like a plan. What do you think, young one?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shrugging while trying not to smile, Rose agreed, "Sounds fun to me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of the Waddle Three plus Kirby gave each other a look that clearly said, "Oh, dwee." Well, Kirby's look said "Oh, poyo,' but you get the idea./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then the whole group smiled at the two warriors innocently, Deedee putting the hair bow down and backing away from it while Sailor Dee simultaneously landed and took the cloak off, setting it down too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Too late," Meta Knight and Rose smirked in unison, beginning to chase the group of mischief-makers around. (Although, Meta Knight's smirk wasn't visible to the others.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As the four marshmallows ran over and into each other in their crazed attempts to get away, Geek Toad suddenly yelped, "Hey! Guys! Land ho!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Really?" Mario and Luigi exclaimed together as they both reappeared from where they had been napping below deck, then became as breathless and awed as their companions now were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wow... It's beautiful," Rose whispered as she stared at the island quickly appearing on the horizon./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's an understatement," Rinda murmured as she picked Kirby up so he could see better./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Indeed," Meta Knight softly agreed, even his eyes a bit wide./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The island wasn't just beautiful, it was exquisite. Already from this distance, they could see a castle that looked to be made of marble, overlooking a shining city./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have read of this place before, in storybooks," Meta Knight told the group in awe. "I never believed it was real. In the old tales, it is known as the City of Harmony, the only place in the universe where all live in complete peace."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's in our legends, too," Link murmured. "The Village of Peace."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Happy World-a," Mario added. "Dat's what it's-a called in da Mushroom Kingdom!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Pristine City, a place that many Trainers have gone to find, but never returned," Ash breathed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What if they actually made it?" Rose wondered eagerly, her excited-little-girl mode beginning to kick in./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, seeing as how the points were only recently reconnected, I doubt they did," Meta Knight shrugged in his literal way, earning him a look of annoyance from everyone else as Rose deflated. "What is it? I am only stating the truth," he sighed as he pulled his cloak around himself, having just picked it back up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as they arrived at land, they all got off and stared at the hustle and bustle around them. Several fishing boats with various passengers looked at them in curiosity, while children of several different species pointed and giggled at them. Not because they looked strange, these kids were used to all kinds of creatures. It was just new for people to come from the sea./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everyone was amazed, but Meta Knight especially. "A place where there are still Star Warriors. There are even children," he said softly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose and Rinda glanced over at him and saw that his eyes were glowing white. "White? What's white mean?" Rinda wondered quitely./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Amazement, or maybe feeling touched?" Rose guessed. "I don't know, I haven't ever seen that one."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It is truly amazement," he agreed in a hushed voice as both girls blushed, realizing he had heard them. "I never thought I would ever again see this many Star Warriors, alive. I had never even thought I would again see a child Star Warrior, other than Kirby, of course."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hiya, poyo!" Kirby squealed gleefully as he ran over to a pack of kids which contained a couple of Star Warriors./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wowo!" one of them replied with a grin. "Wanna play with us?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, poyo!" Kirby nodded, running off with them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, let's hope he doesn't get lost," Rose fretted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He is a hero, he will be fine," Meta Knight reassured her as he smiled to himself. "It is good for him to finally be among his own kind."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't you count as being his own kind?" Rinda pointed out, glancing down at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, of course. But it is good for him to meet others besides me," Meta Knight clarified./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link, meanwhile, was standing close behind Geek Toad. The Mushroom Kingdomer was speaking animatedly to a couple of Toads on a fishing boat, about how they could improve their ship. Ash was speaking to an Elvin girl with a Raichu on her shoulder, and Mario and Luigi had both run off toward some good smell./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, what should emwe/em do?" Rose wondered, the Waddle Three having taken their typical spots on her. As Meta Knight turned to answer her, a couple of Star Warrior kids came up to them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are you a Star Warrior too, lolo?" a little sky-blue girl with light-pink eyes adorably asked Meta Knight./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, actually, I am," he replied kindly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why do you have a sword?" the boy with her asked. He was a little bit bigger than her, probably her older brother, and he was light green with dark blue-gray eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And, lolo, why you wear a mask?" the little girl added./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have a sword because I used to be in the Star Warrior army, and even now, I am a hero where I come from. And I wear a mask so people will take me seriously," he explained, his eyes glowing green in amusement as he looked at the two children. "My name is Meta Knight. What are yours, young ones?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm Tree, but that's not my real name. It's just what my parents call me, for now," the boy told him with a shrug. "And this is Flyte. That's actually her real name. I'm older, but she earned her name first. She jumped off a building to save a falling Toad kid, and then got Wing and flew up before they crashed."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It wasn't anything special, lolo," Flyte blushed. "But why you need a mask? I think you cool. You no need mask to be taken seriously, lolo, Mister Knight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose and Rinda had to giggle, the kids were just so cute. "It is kind of you to say so," Meta Knight chuckled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where are you guys going, anyway?" Tree inquired./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We're not sure, yet. Probably the castle, to receive our next instructions?" Rose guessed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We can take you there, lolo. Easy, just a short walk," Flyte smiled sweetly. "C'mon, Mister Knight," she said, grabbing one of Meta Knight's hands and dragging him after her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda and Rose both giggled again, while Meta Knight rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't roll your eyes," Rose laughed. "You like kids, I can tell."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmph," he muttered, but she could tell he really was glad to have found more of his own kind. Thinking you were pretty much the only one left couldn't possibly feel good, in her opinion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi had found the good smell they had run after. "It's-a pasta!" Mario practically drooled as they stopped in front of a food booth in the marketplace. "How many gold coins for a plate?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We don't take gold coins here," the Manga-Head lady running the stand laughed at him. Not derisively, just amused. "But if you'll help out, you can each have a plate of pasta or two."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay! Let's-a go!" the Bros agreed in unison, ready to help in whatever way necessary to receive some carb-filled Italian goodness./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Back at the coast, Geek Toad helped the Toads on the fishing boat to adjust the sails in such a way as would make them go faster, or so he claimed. Link yawned and sat back against one of the posts on the dock, looking up at the clouds. He enjoyed the Toad's company, but this wasn't all that interesting or heroic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash was in the middle of a Pokémon battle with the Elvin girl. She was extremely good with her Pokémon, and he was having a good time. He loved getting to meet and battle new Trainers./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And Kirby was having a grand old time, playing hide-and-seek around the marketplace with his new friends. He dove under a booth to hide, trying to contain his laughter so he wouldn't be noticed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He was noticed, but not by the people he was trying to hide from. It would have been so much better for him if that had been the case./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A nearby figure wrapped in a plain, brown cloak grinned evilly. Her grin was the only thing you could see, the cloak covered everything else. But as a strand of shiny black hair fell forward and became visible, she started to stalk toward the booth. In a strange, semi-robotic voice, she darkly whispered, "Ready or not, here I come, Kirby. You're first."/p 


	17. Memories, Pokemon Battle, More Mysteries

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's POV:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"This stinks, being trapped in my own head. Trapped inside the only place that I can be myself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Tedium has basically shoved me out of the way and taken over. Right now I'm stuck in a corner of my mind, along with my imagination, which he's pushed next to me so it won't bother him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Imagination is one of his greatest weaknesses. How do I know this? Let's just say, you learn things about people when you share a head when them. Although, I'm not sure if this guy fits into the classification 'people.' Being a person usually means you have a sense of humanity. From what I can tell, this guy doesn't./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He's clearly demonstrating this by the way he's stalking Kirby. The little puffball just jumped under a table to hide from the kids he's playing with, and Tedium just whispered something that I'm sure he thought was completely witty, but that sounded rather cliché to me. Seriously? He's playing hide-and-seek, so you said "Ready or not, here I come?" emSo/em original. Only around 90% of the population could come up with that one./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He glares at me in our mind. "Shut up, it's better than you could come up with."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So what if it is?" I sneer, starting to fight against him again. It's hard work, but if I try, I can manage to take over for a minute or two. With a grin, I realize that I'm the one in control for the moment. "Kirby! Run! Find Rose!" I urgently yelp to him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Curse you!" Tedium hisses, taking back over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sticking his head out from under the booth, Kirby looks around in confusion. "Poyo?" he murmurs. No, Kirby. Don't decide it was nothing. Please, you cute-and-heroic-yet-a-bit-daft Star Warrior, just do what I said. And hurry up! Tedium's getting closer./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I exhale in relief as Kirby pops up and starts dashing through the marketplace, away from evil-ized me. Thank goodness./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Curse you!" Tedium growls again, shoving me even farther back into the corner of my mind that's become my prison. I always felt sorry for Meta Knight being stuck in a mirror that one time, but this has got to be at least ten times worse./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Hmph. Well, as long as I'm stuck back here, I might as well entertain myself. I love making up video games in my head and then playing through them mentally. If I ever got around to it and had somewhere safe to do it, I could probably program a whole game in one all-nighter, as long as I was doing it the old-fashioned way. (E.g., for the Wii or something, not for one of the new super-complicated consoles.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I start to play through a new made-up game, one from the Legend of Zelda series this time, but Tedium stops me with an almost-pained whimper. "No more of your imagining," he seethes at me. "And if you try resisting again, I will make you emsorry/em."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My head, my rules, jerkface," I tell him snarkily in reply. He growls but doesn't punish me in any way, which I'm grateful for, even if I wouldn't ever admit it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why don't you just spend some time thinking of home, little girl?" he suggests, a smirk in his voice. Oh, great. Maybe he emis/em going to punish me, after all./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, please," I beg. I hate thinking of home, especially now that I've gotten away from it. "Don't make me do that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Cackling in a way that is ever-so-chilling, he reaches into my little piece of my mind and lets a dark cloud out. I shiver as I'm pulled into a memory./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"******************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Byte, why can't you just play the games everyone else is playing? Conformity is optimal, and the games you talk about are too colorful and imaginative, sweet," my mom sighs as I talk animatedly about how I found several more episodes of the old Kirby anime buried in some ancient computer files today./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's right, sweetheart. Imagination is inefficient and causes delay to individual progress," my dad reminds me, quoting one of the World Government's favorite mantras./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, whatever," I mutter in reply, deflating./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't get moody, honey. You know being a moody teenager is against the rules," Mom reminds me with a small smile. Getting a smile out of her is rare, everyone knows that showing emotion is a 'waste of time.' Everyone acts like Vulcans here. (And no, Vulcans aren't real. Sorry to any Trekkies out there whose bubbles I've just burst.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, ma'am. May I please be excused from the table?" I ask politely. Better not to risk getting in trouble with anyone. If I start acting too 'abnormal,' they (my parents and the World Government) might follow me around closer and figure out that I'm not staying Inside like a good little sheep./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I go to my room and flop onto my bed. "You are going to sleep already?" my room's computer asks in surprise. "That is not part of your normal pattern. What caused this abnormality?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry, room," I reply in a sugar-sweet voice. "I'm not going to bed yet, I'm just taking a moment to think and focus my thoughts before I start on my homework. Homework is important, education is the key to the future."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very good, Byte. You are a model Citizen," my room chirps back proudly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emIf you only knew, you Government-connected spying machine,/em I think. There's not even privacy in my own bedroom. I'm so glad that at least the World Government can't get into my head... yet. Give them a decade or two. I shudder, hoping the room doesn't notice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After doing my homework, (I'm a straight-A student! Sunshine and hugs!) I pull out my handheld supercomputer. "What are you doing?" my room inquires, trying to sound interested and not just like a stalker./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Watching this cartoon I discovered recently. It's really old, I'm studying it for a history project," I tell it, trying to sound eager./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's good. Knowing the past helps keep us from ever repeating it," it practically coos. First of all, I would much rather live in the past, even with war and cancer and all that stuff, than here with nothing interesting or exciting. And second, when the World Government despises cutesy stuff, you'd think they could make the computers' voiceovers less annoying./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I sigh sadly. I want to draw a comic or something and color it in, anything to brighten the starkness around me. But I can't, or my computer will get suspicious. Because in my world, imagination is bad./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Bleakness is good. Starkness is good. Efficiency is good. But imagination is very 'dangerous.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nearly nobody seems to even have an imagination of their own, anymore. Sure, the Government claims that Humans just 'evolved' to not have an imagination. But I don't believe it. I don't think I just randomly mutated to have an imagination if it really has 'evolved' out. I emdo/em think that they somehow take imagination away, and that somehow (due to some computer flop or something) they missed me. I don't know for sure, though. Maybe people are just really that boring, these days./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"If I wasn't so scared of the Government finding out I go Outside, I'd start making new games of my own in the hopes that someone else could discover their imagination by playing them. If I could do anything with my life, it would be to bring Nintendo back. I could do the whole thing myself, just take the old consoles and make the new games, adding them to the Wii Shop/eShop/etc. where everyone who had a console could get to them. With modern technology, I could replicate the consoles pretty easily, and make them available for a really cheap price, compared to the current junk./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But I doubt anyone else would even emwant/em to play. Like I've said all along, Nintendo's ancient history. Low-tech, out-of-date, obsolete, all that, as Magolor would say. There I go, thinking like a fictional character again. Yay for me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After watching the new episodes I've found, not caring that they're completely out of order, I turn my light off at precisely 10:00 PM, World Time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good. A regular bedtime makes for an efficient daytime. Good night, Byte. May your dreams be helpful and encourage progress," the room says, then shuts itself down into power-saving mode for the night./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks, room," I say back, then sigh and close my eyes, imagining myself anywhere but here. I eventually drift off into Dreamland, although not the one I wish I could go to./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"****************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emCastle Nintendo's front hall:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, now what do we do?" Rose wondered as they entered the castle. The two Star Warrior kids had run off and left them when they heard their mom calling a couple blocks back. It had been cute, Flyte had tried to convince Meta Knight to go with them. Rose thought the little girl had decided that poor Meta Knight was her new best friend, or something. He had, of course, politely declined, and seemed rather relieved to not be led around by a child anymore./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee had practically dove off her head as soon as they had entered, running off to who knows where. He was probably just glad to be home, Rose thought. She didn't blame him, she was the tiniest bit homesick sometimes, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know what to do. I'd say 'look for the Princess,' but I don't think she's here," Rinda murmured. "I have to admit, I'm a little bit awed. This castle is much bigger than Hyrule Castle."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This place is even bigger than Castle DeDeDe, isn't it?" Rose commented, glancing down at the Star Warrior member of their current party as she held Thdwee closer so she could sort-of cross her arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, it is only logical, seeing as how it was built for someone taller than DeDeDe," he stated simply. Maybe it was just Rose, but he had seemed to be acting more and more stoic all the time. She wondered what was up with that. Was it maybe a precursor to being 'frozen,' or was it just a Star Warrior thing?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shrugging that strain of thought off for the moment, the Pokémonlander sighed, shifting her shoulders in a effort to get Sailor Dee to move so he wasn't standing on her collarbone. (He got heavy after awhile.) "Well, standing here's not going to help anything. Maybe we should ask somebody for directions."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We do not require directions," Meta Knight disagreed in a typical male fashion, making Rose and Rinda roll their eyes. "Besides, where we would ask for directions to? We do not even know where we want to go, now do we?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""True," Rinda shrugged, just as someone yelled,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! Ears! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The group turned around to see a young boy, probably around Ash's age, grinning at them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Beg pardon?" Rinda said incredulously, giving him a look./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't play dumb, you've got Pokéballs, so you've obviously got Pokémon. I've never battled you before, I want to see which of us is better!" the kid said eagerly. "My name's Tom. And you are?..."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm Rinda," Rinda answered with a shrug. "And okay, although I'll warn you, I'm not any good."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So? Battle gives you a chance to get better, Ears. Let's go, Greninja!" the kid shouted, tossing a Pokéball out, releasing the giant frog-like Pokémon inside./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, I choose you, Pachirisu?" Rinda tried./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachirisu? Seriously?" Tom scoffed. "Greninja, use Night Slash!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pachirisu, dodge and then use Growl!" Rinda ordered, a bit flustered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No! Not Growl! Growl's useless!" Rose facepalmed, moaning in disbelief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have no idea what any of you are speaking of," Meta Knight muttered, sounding bemused, as he drew his cloak around himself and continued to observe./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, look, my Greninja's defense fell. So scared," Tom laughed, just a tad bit derisively. "Greninja! Use Hydro Pump!" As it hit Pachirisu, knocking the low-level Pokémon out, Tom snickered. "Greninja used Hydro Pump! It's super effective."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't rub it in, kid," Rose glared at him. "She just recently became a Trainer."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You can't say anything about it, you're not even a Trainer," the kid shrugged. "Either way, I'm the winner. See ya, Rinda. Come back when you can put up a fight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is my line," Meta Knight narrowed his eyes at the kid as he left./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Calling poor Pachirisu back into the Pokéball, Rinda hung her head down. "I can't even beat a random kid. How am I ever going to save the world?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't give up before you've even begun," Rose said, trying to sound encouraging. "Pachirisu wouldn't stand a chance against a high-level Pokémon like Greninja with nearly any Trainer. It was good practice."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shaking her head, Rinda disagreed, "Well, it's nice of you to say so, but I really don't think I did as well as I could've. If I had only thought to use something other than Growl, for goodness' sake."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's a dumb mistake anyone could make," Rose began, just as Kirby came careening around the corner and slammed into her, knocking her feet out from under her. "Ow. What was that for, Kirbs? Where's the fire?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Somebody say Kirby needed to run, poyo. Somebody say Kirby needed to find Rose," he explained, smiling happily at her, seeming to enjoy that she was suddenly closer to his eye level. "Does Rose have cookie, poyo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Giggling, Rose answered as she picked herself up into a kneeling position, "No, you random little puffball, Rose does not have cookies. Sorry, Kirby." Then, as her smile faded, she questioned, "What do you mean, somebody said you needed to run?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby playing hide-n-seek, poyo. But then, Kirby hear scary voice saying 'Ready or not,' so Kirby tried to be completely quiet. And then, somebody, sounding scared, said that Kirby needed to run and find Rose. So Kirby did, poyo," the little Star Warrior explained, a bit disappointed that his friend had somehow acquired cookies out of thin air while he had been gone. He wished that Meta Knight hadn't have hidden the bottomless bag of cookies they had found on their last adventure where he couldn't find them. It wasn't very nice of his mentor to keep them all to himself, in his humble, innocent, young opinion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""A voice that was scary, and then a scared voice? Was the voice a girl or a boy?" Rose inquired with a frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Both voices were a girl, poyo. Voices sounded the same, 'cept the first one sounded like a robot. Kirby likes robots when they not scary. They are cool. Beep boop beep!" he replied, getting off track and starting to wander around in circles like an automaton while the others watched in disbelief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The joy of being constantly around a six-year-old," Meta Knight sighed, sounding a bit annoyed, but his eyes were glowing a concerned shade of blue. "Rose, do you think this could be your 'friend' from the Home Dimension?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, there's no way to know for sure. I don't know how she would've got here, though. Besides, she never talked like a robot while we were walking together," Rose murmured thoughtfully. "But I know why she went, wherever she went. She said she didn't want to have to go home, and from what she told me about where she lives, I'm not really surprised."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Masked Knight grew even more thoughtful. "Why is that?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She says that there they can't go outside, for one thing. They just magically move from building to building, like the way you can warp with your cloak," Rose replied. "I wouldn't want to be stuck inside all the time."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning to himself, Meta Knight nodded once in agreement. "Neither would I. That sounds absolutely miserable, to tell you the truth."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Rinda added, seeming a bit saddened by the idea./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby like outside, poyo. Outside has many snacks at home," he grinned, then grew almost sad. "Meta Knight, we go home soon? Kirby miss home, and Kirby no want to miss Christmas. Santa going to bring Kirby shortcake, poyo."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Seeming to soften some, Meta Knight reassured the younger Star Warrior, "We will return as soon as we can, small one. I am beginning to become homesick, as well. I do not care much for Christmas anymore, but I know you enjoy it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do you have against Christmas?" Rinda asked him, surprised. "I mean, I've never celebrated it myself, but any sort of a holiday is wonderful."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not when none of the people you used to celebrate with exist anymore," Meta Knight whispered, staring off into the distance. But as quick as his softer moment had come, it left again. "It matters not. Let us quit wasting time. We need to at least explore further into the castle."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Before the words had completely left his mouth, Deedee reappeared, bringing with him a Pichu, a Remlit, and a Goomba. Also, he now had a little golden crown on his head, which he seemed to be quite vainly proud about./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee! Dee dwee!" he ordered our heroes and non-heroes, pointing the way deeper into the castle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The others hesitated, unsure of whether they could trust him. (Can you blame them? He was a bit of a monster.) Irritated, he crossed his arms and walked over to Meta Knight, who was the nearest one, and prepared to kick him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do not, or you will regret it," the Star Warrior warned him, his voice cold and his eyes narrowed down to being just two irritated-orange-colored slits./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee decided it was a good plan to take his advice and turned and kicked Rose in the side instead. "Dwee!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, okay, emokay/em. I'm coming, Prince Bossy Boots. Where'd you get the crown, anyway?" she grumped. Rubbing her side, she stood up and picked Thdwee back up from where she had let him down earlier, before the Pokémon battle had started, so he could stretch his legs. Er, feet./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee, dee," he explained, like it was obvious and understandable, then ran off into the halls, followed by his castle friends./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, onward and inward, then," Rinda declared, faux-excitement in her voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Poyo, maybe there's snacks! Like Christmas cookies! Kirby likes Christmas cookies. 'Specially the kind that Sakura used to make," Kirby giggled, rubbing his stomach in typical Kirby fashion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's Sakura?" Rose questioned, looking down at Meta Knight, assuming he'd be the one able to answer./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""A Waddle Dee with Kirby's powers, and my pupil. She was also quite good with the sword. She assisted us on our last quest, when we went to defeat the Monstrous Lightning. But now, she is off somewhere else in the universe, serving someone else," he briefly explained, sounding disinterested, as he walked, cloak drawn around himself. "She will eventually return."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm," Rose murmured in reply. Maybe the silhouette character Byte had talked about was this 'Sakura?' Someone who could use Kirby powers, but also was good with a sword. It made sense, but why had she just been a silhouette onscreen? Why hadn't the Meta Knight character recognized her? It probably didn't matter, but it was still strange./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"One thing was for sure. It seemed like the further they got into this adventure, the more complicated everything got. Not only were the points tied together, but now the Home Dimension was getting involved too. And when you had so many things going on at once, something was bound to end up going wrong. The only question was, how soon were things going to start falling to pieces around them all?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sooner than you think, Rose. Sooner than you think./p 


	18. The First Hero Falls, New Instructions

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNintendo City:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"While Byte was still trapped in her memory, Tedium left the marketplace and moved towards the docks. This time, she would not interfere. This time, a hero emwould/em fall./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Geek Toad and Link were now walking along the docks, Geek Toad gabbing about how he loved the ocean, how cool this place was, how it reminded him of a place in a sci-fi book he had read years ago. Link laughed softly to himself, Geek Toad was one of the few people who didn't seem to be bothered by his being mostly silent./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Glancing up at him, the Toad inquired, "What's so funny?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shaking his head, Link just smiled down at the Toad in his wordless way of saying, "It's nothing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, then. The only thing I don't like about this place is the noise. I don't like noisy places, they're hard to think in. Not being able to think drives me nuts," Geek Toad told him as he wrinkled his face up, making his glasses fall off his nose and onto the cobblestone pavement. "Dang it. I also hate when that happens," he huffed as he knelt down and starting feeling along the ground for his lost eyewear./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link chuckled at his green-spotted companion again, then suddenly tensed. He could feel someone watching him, which wasn't a surprise in this crowded place, but it felt sinister. Slowly turning around, he saw nothing strange. Just a bunch of different creatures going about their business./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly realizing Geek Toad's banter had stopped, Link searched everywhere around himself for his small friend. After seeing him up ahead a ways, still talking although he wasn't there to listen, he relaxed. Until he felt someone tug at his sleeve./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He turned and saw someone about Rinda's height wrapped in a plain brown cloak; a girl, he guessed, because of the few strands of black hair that had fallen out of the hood. "Are you lost?" he asked politely. She made him nervous, and he reached discreetly for his sword./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She lifted her head so she was looking at him, revealing two strange, static-y eyes. "No, but you are," she whispered, in a tinny voice that was borderline disturbing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Growing more and more anxious, Link tried to pull away. "No, don't try to fight it, hero. It's already begun," the girl grinned at him chillingly. What did she mean? Then he looked down at his hand and realized, it was beginning to turn to stone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Beginning to panic, Link tried to shout for help, but the words wouldn't come out. In horror, he clapped his free hand to his face to find his mouth was now rock, molded into the shape of a nervous frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Now angry, he drew his sword, but before he could swing it, his other arm had turned to stone, as well. "I am the opposite of imagination," the girl told him with quiet pleasure, still not relinquishing her hold on his arm. "You only exist because someone imagined you, so I am like poison to you. It is the same way with all the other heroes. Without imagination, they wouldn't exist. So I will freeze each and every one of them, and they will join you as trophies in my castle. I think you would make for a lovely hat-rack, Mister Elf."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The transformation was complete. Now, all that was left of Link was a statue, one that looked like a hero ready to attack, but frozen in that moment forever. "Goodbye, Link. I'll come back for you later. In the meantime, you can add décor to the streets of this pathetic city."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Tedium turned and left, just as Geek Toad realized he was walking alone. "Link! Link! Where'd you go?" Toad called, then frowned as he walked back, past a sculpture that he could swear wasn't there earlier. Looking closer at it, he gasped as he realized that it looked just like Link./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Byte said the heroes were frozen. Link's been frozen! Agh! Help! Mario!" he panicked, running into the part of the town where he had seen the Bros wander off to./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*********************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario and Luigi left the booth, happy and with full bellies. "Ey, look, Luigi. It's-a da little Toad we brought with us. I thought he was-a hanging with Link."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He seems pretty upset, Mario. He's a-doin' the Toad panic dance," Luigi commented as he reached up and took his hat off for moment to fan himself. For a winter day, it was pretty warm out here./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Mario! Help me! Hey!" Geek Toad yelped, slamming right into the plumber. "Link's been turned into a statue!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Bros instantly grew serious. "We need to find the others, and-a stat," Luigi declared./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario nodded once. "It's-a go time. Try to keep up, Geek-a Toad."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Disbelieving, the Toad moaned, "I can't keep up with you guys!" Too late, they had already jumped off through the marketplace, leaving him by himself. "Great, now what do I do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where are they going?" Ash suddenly asked, walking over from yet another Pokémon battle. This was awesome, he had battled like ten Trainers already today. One had even been a Star Warrior, which was pretty cool, in his opinion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Link's been turned into a statue! We need to warn the others!" Geek Toad told him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash grabbed the Toad and pulled him into a piggyback position. "They're at the castle, I know 'cuz the guy I just battled said he battled someone there who sounded like Rinda."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay!" Geek Toad agreed. "As Mario would say, Let's-a go!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash dashed off through the streets toward the castle, followed closely by Pikachu./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"At the castle, they were greeted by an Elf wearing a calm expression. "We've been expecting you. Come with me, please."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How do we know we can trust you?" Ash demanded, narrowing his eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Elf showed him a piece of paper. "Follow the Elf, and hurry. -Rose." Ash read. "All right, but don't make us regret it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"They were led to a room several floors down, where all of the other heroes and non-heroes were seated around a table, except for Kirby, Meta Knight, and Sailor Dee. They were standing on the table, in order to be closer to everyone else's eye level./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Please, take a seat," a tired-sounding voice requested. Ash frowned, still suspicious, but Rose nodded at him with an encouraging half-smile. With a shrug, he helped Geek Toad down and took a chair; Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder. Geek Toad took one of the remaining three seats./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Link isn't coming, so we shall begin," the voice ordered, and a fuzzy image of Princess Baika appeared in the seat at the head of the table. "As you have all already figured out, the great evil has arrived. His name is Tedium, and he has taken possession of a young girl named Byte. Byte is a visitor from the Home Dimension, and she must be rescued and returned safely back at all costs."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why?" Meta Knight demanded. "She has come to destroy our world, why must we be kind to her in return? Why can we not just dispose of her, and the monster with her?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Gee, that's nice. Let's just kill the kid, Darth," Ash rolled his eyes. After being met with blank stares from all around the table, he sighed. "Does no one watch the Star Battles movies, either?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""They made a film about the war against Nightmare?" Meta Knight asked, surprised./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Still trying, Ash questioned, "Okay, if I can't call him Darth, what about Prime Minister Rain? Has anyone seen the Starvation Tournament?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Is that about the Gourmet Race, poyo?" Kirby squealed, eyes growing huge and mouth beginning to water./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Never mind," Ash groaned. "Carry on, your Highness."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thank you, Ash. I cannot explain why Byte must be preserved, other than that her world's future depends on it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, as I'm sure you heroes have probably guessed, you are all going to meet the same fate that Link has. It is inevitable. However, as long as the non-heroes succeed, you will be saved in the end," Baika reassured them. "The reason he can freeze you is you are all products of imagination. You have grown from that, each becoming your own person, but without imagination, you would not exist. But no one ever made up the non-heroes. They just happened, without someone planning them. That's why Tedium won't be able to freeze them. He will be able to try to stop them in many other ways, though."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Painful ways?" Rinda squeaked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very," the Princess nodded solemnly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda shrank into the back of her seat./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose stood up, drawing herself up to her full four-and-a-half feet. "So what do we do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We haven't got there, yet, Rose. Be patient, child," Baika smiled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We don't-a have-a time to be patient," Mario disagreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And we really don't have time to be interrupting," the Princess said, quietly but firmly. "Now, as to the matter of the Heir. I will not be here much longer. I am sitting in the prison in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach is keeping me company, but by the time you save the world, I will be gone."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Making eye contact with each of the non-heroes in turn, she continued, "One of you is the Heir. In order to avoid you fighting among yourselves, I will not tell you who now. It will be revealed in good time."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So, wait," Geek Toad interrupted. "One of us non-heroes will be the next King or Princess?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Exactly, Geek Toad," the Princess answered with a single nod. "So, now to the matter of what you need to do. Rose, you have discovered you have a talent with the sword, correct?'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, ma'am. Well, not really a talent, but I can use one," Rose answered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very good. Deedee, give her the sword," Baika ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Deedee pulled something out of a nearby trophy case and dragged it over to Rose's seat. "Dwee!" he said, sounding a bit proud, as he handed it to her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose accepted the rose-red sheath and pulled the sword out. It was made of a shining metal that looked like silver, and had a rose-shaped ruby inlaid in the also-rose-red hilt. "Thank you, your Highness. I will use it as best I can."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It will guide you, just as Galaxia did the first time you used a sword. Follow where it leads, and you will not fail," Baika told her, giving her a reassuring smile. "Now, Rinda. You are good with Pokémon, right?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, ma'am. Well, I'm good with them, but not at fighting with them," the Elvin girl explained, still quiet. She was worried about Link, hoping that being frozen wasn't hurting him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Pikapika, give her the stone," Baika said calmly. The Pokémon nodded and brought a pure-white gem out of the trophy case. "This is the Non-Hero's Stone. It will help increase your Pokémon's power, and also help you with your decision-making."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thank you, Princess," she answered with a weak smile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning to the Mushroom Kingdom's non-hero, the Princess continued, "Geek Toad, you like to invent things, a common pastime among some of the people in Hyrule. Correct, Lin- oh, yes. Ahem. Anyway, you like to make new tools and such, correct?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Princess Baika, I do. It's my passion!" he agreed, with an eager nod that knocked the glasses off his face again. "Dang it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Baika chortled and waited until he had found his glasses again and put them back on his face. "Now, Nya. Give him the book and pen."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Remlit pulled a hardbound, dark-green book with a clasp on it and a matching pen tucked in its binding to Geek Toad's chair with her mouth, and then purred happily at him, while the Princess explained, "That book is magical, Geek Toad. Whatever you draw in it with that pen will come into existence. The sky's the limit. I am sure that will come in handy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, gosh, I bet!" he freaked, pulling out the book and sketching something in crazed frenzy. Out of the book appeared a small robot carrying a tray of drinks. "That is freaking awesome! Thanks, Princess!" he squealed as the robot went around the table, offering everyone a glass of juice. Nearly everyone accepted, except for Meta Knight, who politely declined. Kirby and Mario had a silent staring contest over who got the extra glass, which was solved by Kirby's inhaling it, earning him a dirty look from the Italian plumber. He just grinned innocently in return./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, Thdwee. Have you shown anyone emyour/em special talent?" the Princess asked, turning to him last./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Blushing, the Waddle Dee shook his head from where he stood on Rose's shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, then please do so, little friend," she smiled encouragingly, gesturing to a Waddle Dee-sized piano in the corner. "Deedee hasn't played in so long, it'll be good to hear some music again."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Still blushing, Thdwee nervously went over to the piano and opened it up. Gulping, he played a couple of scales, then started playing some complicated-sounding piece./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Inventing, writing, and drawing. Each of you had an art-related talent, it was logical that Thdwee's would be music. As always, I am right," Meta Knight observed coolly, drawing his cloak around himself. "But Rose can also use a sword; and Rinda, the Pokémon. Geek Toad's skill would be useful for artistic expression, or for battle. What is Thdwee's fighting skill?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee seemed to deflate, and the music petered out, as everyone glared at Meta Knight yet again. That seemed to be happening a lot, lately, he was getting used to it. And so, he just stared stoically back at them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thdwee's fighting skill is the same as Deedee's, isn't it, Thdwee?" Baika laughed lightly, smiling at the Waddle Dee as he sadly resumed his place in Rose's lap./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He gave a weak nod, then crossed his arms and snuggled back against Rose. It wasn't his fault he was so sickly and weak. He had always been emproud/em of himself for managing to learn the piano. It wasn't easy to play when you didn't have any fingers, and the instrument was built for someone a bit bigger than you, like the Star Warrior-sized ones in Castle DeDeDe./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "It's all right, Thdwee. That was great. Haters gonna hate," she joked, earning herself an annoyed look from the masked Star Warrior. After sticking her tongue out at him, she turned back to the Princess. "So what does Thdwee get?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Baika replied, "Well, even though his talent isn't Mushroom Kingdom-related, it's Ruff's turn. Ruff, bring him the amulet."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Goomba grabbed something out of the case in his fangs and brought it over, spitting it onto Rose's lap. "Thanks," Rose replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, as she picked it up and held it where Thdwee could see it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was a red-orange, precious-looking gem on a golden chain. "That amulet is very powerful, Thdwee. You'll know how to use it when the time is right," the Princess explained. "Rose, help him put it on."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a grin, Rose did so. "You look so handsome!" she teased the tiny Waddle Dee, giving him a kiss on the top of the head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He 'smiled' at her happily in reply, and then teased the other two members of the Waddle Three, emI'm her favorite, and you're not./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emShut up/em, the other two thought back at him in offended unison./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, you must all go to the Forbidden point," Baika ordered, growing very serious./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ash interrupted, "But I thought you said-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I did say, eight hundred years ago. But here, now, that is where you must go. It is the only place where Tedium can be defeated. I will warn you, I have no idea what's on the Forbidden point, but I am very sure it will be unnerving, maybe even frightening. You must all be strong-hearted."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, your Highness," Meta Knight answered first, bowing to her in typical, chivalrous, Meta Knight fashion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We'll-a try," Mario answered for the others with a determined nod./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, yeah," Luigi squeaked in agreement. "What my bro said."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now go, and hurry. Tedium is on his way here, my guards will show you the back way out. Hurry and return to your ship," she commanded firmly. "This may very well be the last time we meet, so goodbye, all of you. Except for Meta Knight, I wish to speak to him. He will catch up with you soon enough. Now, go."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Confused, Meta Knight remained while the others got up and left. "What do you wish to speak to me about, your Highness?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is it that is troubling you, great warrior?" Baika inquired kindly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do not you already know? You and I are alike, we both seem to know everything," he answered, his eyes still glowing dark green in confusion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She smiled in reply. "You feel bothered by the idea that you were created for a frivolous purpose, for someone else's entertainment. But that's not what you ended up doing, now is it?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This version of myself, perhaps. But Rose said Byte told her about a version of myself which exists there, which only exists as a character in the Ancients' 'games.' And from what it sounds like, he has had a past very similar to my own. So I have been thinking, what if the Ancients have somehow programmed us, to follow their idea of who and how we should be? I cannot stand that idea," he answered, growing more and more sour as he spoke./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Softly, Baika replied, "But you emaren't/em just programmed. True, your life is much the same as his, but I can think of one major difference."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And what is that, your Highness?" he demanded, sounding terse./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sakura. She does not exist in the Ancients' world, she never has, and probably never will. They never even expected her to exist here. Don't you remember the code books? She never appeared in any of them, not even once," the Princess answered, looking thoughtfully at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And what of that?" he asked coldly. When she had first mentioned his friend, he had seemed surprised, but had quickly re-composed himself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm just saying, your life isn't programmed. It can go whatever way you choose, Sir Meta Knight. Don't be so bitter, life is too short to spend being bitter. And I say that as someone over 800 years old," she confided to him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Softening just the tiniest bit, he bowed again. "Yes, your Highness."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling, she questioned, "Do you feel better now?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Somewhat. Thank you, your Highness."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You are welcome, brave warrior. Now go, I am sure Rose will be eager to try her new sword against yours," Baika laughed. "May the Star Power guide and protect you, Sir Meta Knight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And you also, your Highness," he bowed one last time, then spread his wings and took off from the table./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She laughed to herself after he left, now taking the opportunity to walk around her castle and say goodbye to her city one last time. "The other world's Meta Knight didn't have a Blossom either, but I couldn't tell him that, or he'd figure too much out. Spoilers!"/p 


	19. Torturing the Badguys, The Battle Begins

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emUnder the sea, near Nintendo City:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Master Hand groaned. He had, eventually, convinced the badguys from each point to help him out with his plans. Of course, what emthey/em didn't know was that as soon as they had taken down the big, scary, 'great evil,' he was going to take all of emthem/em down and then rule as supreme emperor of Nintendo World./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But, of course, all four of these others had as big of egos as he himself did, and it showed. Right now, for example, the other four were all having an argument over who was the evilest. "Look, all of you. Just shut up!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The other badguys grudgingly stopped talking, turned, and looked at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Drumming his fingers against the floor in irritation, he told the others, "We're all truly evil, with the exception of DeDeDe. Personally, I would've much rather had Nightmare along, but he's gone now, curse his soul. DeDeDe, you're evil enough to help, as long as you don't turn soft during the fight. Now, we all know why we're here, don't we?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We're here to try to find the mucho big badguy and take him down!" Bowser roared, stamping his feet and making the high-tech submarine (supplied by Giovanni) that they were in shake unnervingly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, Turtle Man. Chill," DeDeDe huffed, insulted at not being considered as evil as the others. "If you break through the hull of this tin can and drown us all, my ghost is going to be chasin' your ghost around with a hammer. That's evil, right?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It was a good attempt, DeDeDe," Ganondorf encouraged him, somewhat sarcastically, while Giovanni growled as he pet his Persian on the head,/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are you implying that my submarine is poorly built? I'll have you know, this is the strongest experimental alloy in all of Pokémonland. This beauty is anything but a 'tin can!'"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Experimental, huh? Is that why I think I'm having an allergic reaction to it?" Bowser inquired as he scratched his arm./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, you're just having a problem because of the years' worth of dirt on your skin," Giovanni replied with a snort, thus beginning another argument./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, for the love of all things foul," Master Hand sighed, wishing he had a face so he could facepalm. As it was, he began hitting himself against the wall in aggravation. "Shut up, you idiots! How will we ever defeat this oh-so-scary upstart if we can't even make it to land?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Gyaaaaar!" something suddenly said outside, and all of the badguys' expressions changed to various forms of 'oh, dwee.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is that, anyway?" Bowser demanded, trying to still sound all arrogant and scared-of-nothing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sure it's nothing the sub can't handle," Giovanni reassured him as he frantically tried to calm his Persian, which was now hissing at the universe and trying to bite his hand off, its fur on end./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know what it was, but I still don't think it sounded good," Ganondorf commented. "I guess we're about to find out how strong this 'experimental alloy' really is."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Shut up, fool," Giovanni gave him the evil eye. "Ow! Persian! Daddy's hand is not a chew toy!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of the other no-good-doers/good-no-doers/do-no-gooders looked at him in disbelief. "Daddy?" DeDeDe snickered. "That's rich."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, shut up. He's just jealous because he doesn't have a cute widdle pet like I do, isn't that right Persian? Yes it is, oh yes it is!" he crooned to the cat Pokémon, which lunged at his face. "Gargh! No! Bad kitty!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Gyaaaaar!" the noise came again, louder and crankier-sounding this time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, for heaven's sake. Can we get a visual on it, or something?" Master Hand demanded, going over and trying to hit a button on a control panel, and instead hitting five or six, due to how large his fingers were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, just let me do-" Giovanni started, dragging himself over to the control panel and trying to get away from Persian, which had latched its fangs onto his shirttail and wasn't letting go; but was interrupted by something slamming into the sub, knocking them all over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""GYAAAAAAR!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, just lovely," Ganondorf sighed, his face in the floor. "We're all going to die at the hands of some sea monster, and I'm surrounded by bumbling goat-heads."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Giovanni finally managed to hit a button and bring up a visual on the viewscreen. "Oh, for the love of Pikachu. It's a Gyarados."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's a Gyarados? Is it big? Does it have fangs?" Bowser questioned from where he had pulled himself into his shell. "I wish Magikoopa was here to stop it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Magikoopa-smagikoopa. What you need is an army of Waddle Dee," DeDeDe disagreed. "Sure, they ain't good for much, but you can chuck 'em at stuff. They make pretty good projectiles for something so non-aerodynamical."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ready to explode, Master Hand made a gun shape and fired a shot at the wall, then realized just how idiotic of a thing to do that had been as water started leaking into the sub. "Oh. Um. Er, my apologies, gentlemen," he stuttered bashfully./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My sub! My beautiful submarine! Do you have any idea how many Pokén this thing cost me to make?" Giovanni sobbed, now trying to free himself from Persian, who was climbing up his back. "Quit sticking your claws in Daddy's back, precious!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Persian!" it replied angrily, clambering up so its back paws were on his shoulders and its front paws were on his head, terrified of the water that was quickly filling the bridge of the sub./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's just water, you stupid cat. I think most of the guys in here emneed/em a bath," DeDeDe smirked, being the only one in the group that could swim, apparently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ganondorf began to cackle, going insane from stress. "I will not be ended in such a pathetic fashion! If I am going out, I am going out with a bang!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What's he doing? I can't look! Mommy!" Bowser cried, still inside his shell./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am surrounded by the least intelligent scum on the planet. This is what I get for being lazy," Master Hand sighed morosely. "Mother always did say I would end up one glove short of a set if I never did anything for myself."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ganondorf began to make some sort of a fireball in his hands. "No! Don't, you numbskull!" Giovanni shouted. "This sub runs on an experimental fuel that could be highly flammable!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""emCould/em be? Didn't you test it, ya looney?" DeDeDe groaned disbelievingly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's what 'experimental' means, you dumb, oversized Piplup! It means we were in the process of testing it!" Giovanni sneered back at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"BOOM, went the sub./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Gyaar?" went the Gyarados, now miles away./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*****************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ooh, look, poyo! Fireworks!" Kirby squealed, not too far away from where the badguys were busy trying to blow themselves up. "They're telling us bye-bye, poyo!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, Kirbs, I don't think those are fireworks," Ash murmured. "Fireworks don't scream."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Rose agreed with a frown, then winced as one of the 'fireworks' screeched out particularly awfully. "Probably just someone blowing stuff up for some random reason... yeah. I got nothing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"****************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emMinutes later:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSomewhere on the coast of Nintendo City:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, stop staring, you pathetic Toads," Bowser growled to the handful of fishing toadstool-people spectators as he drug himself back onto land and then flopped onto his back. Then, he realized how stupid of a thing that was to do as he rocked back and forth on his shell. "Um, hello, lovely Toads. A little help?" The group of Toads snickered at him and collected their fishing stuff, turning to go home./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, there's Bowser," Master Hand sighed from where he stood farther up the beach. "Ganondorf and DeDeDe have already showed back up, now all we're missing is-"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaain!" a voice screamed, and then someone landed headfirst in the sand of the beach they had washed up on, followed by a cat-like creature that slammed into his back and dug its claws into him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Persian! Persian Persian!" it screeched at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Daddy's sorry, okay? Stop, that hurts!" a muffled plea came from under the sand./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"DeDeDe came over and swatted the cat away into the nearby forest with his hammer, ("RRRROW!") and then grabbed Giovanni's leg, pulling him out of the beach. "You okay there, Gio-funny?" he teased./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That wasn't very evil, DeDeDe. Try going for a more insulting name next time," Bowser suggested, now spinning around as he tried to rock himself back up into a sitting position, Master Hand and Ganondorf cackling at him the whole time. "Sure, just leave the poor turtle on his back. Ha ha, very entertaining, right guys?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very," Ganondorf agreed. "Well, I got us onto land, didn't I? I guess I get the villain-of-the-day award!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not exactly. Now, how will we ever get off this blasted island?" Master Hand disagreed, pulling himself into a fist and slamming into Ganondorf, knocking him over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, is it free-for-all time? I love gettin to hit stuff with my hammer!" DeDeDe rejoiced, holding Giovanni up in preparation to send him flying off, but then dropping him with a squawk. "The sand sure didn't do anything to help your ugly mug!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Giovanni stared at him. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ganondorf began to laugh so hard he couldn't breathe. "Well, let's just say, your tiny little beady eyes aren't quite so tiny anymore."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, that. That happens when I GET BLOWN OUT OF THE OCEAN!" Giovanni roared. "IT'S CALLED A SHOCKED EXPRESSION!" Suddenly growing calm, he added, "It'll wear off after awhile."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em"I/em sure don't look like that when emI'm/em shocked," Bowser laughed. "Fun with being a Manga-Head, huh?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, shut up, or we'll leave you here to die," Giovanni glared at him, rubbing the sand off his face and trying to shake it out of his clothes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, now I suppose we should all go try to find the 'great evil,'" Master Hand muttered, then noticed a young girl wrapped in a plain brown cloak, not far from them, face pointed toward the ground. Sneering, he demanded, "What are you looking at, little peasant child?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry for causing offense... not," she murmured back in a eerie, semi-robotic voice. "And I'm not looking at you... yet."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, don't look at all, then, punk," Bowser growled at her as DeDeDe and Giovanni helped flip him over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sorry, but what fun would that be?" she demanded, pulling the hood back and looking up at them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeesharoony. Those eyes are disturbin'!" DeDeDe yelped as she grinned at them creepily./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I am Tedium, and this is Byte that I am inhabiting. Charmed, I'm sure," she giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This is a bit too much like a horror movie for my liking," Giovanni muttered out of the corner to his mouth to the others./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You've come to destroy me, but it is I who will destroy you!" she giggled harder, now in a maniacal giggling fit. "This is going to be fun. You are the ones the heroes most fear, but you will be nothing against me. I am like the longest summer's day, the longest winter's night. I am like those times when you wish something would end, but the end just never comes. I am Tedium, and you are finished."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She started to float above the ground and let out a chilling laugh, made all the more chilling by the computerized tinge to her voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wh-what are you doing?" Ganondorf demanded, forming some dark magic in his hands to throw at her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Ganondorf," she grinned at him, floating over and grabbing his shoulders. Static snaked down her arms and into his shoulders, making him close his eyes with a moan. Seconds later, his eyes opened again, now not really eyes. They were just full of black./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The other badguys panicked and tried to run, but one by one, she caught up to them, and Tedium posessed them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emStop it! Get out of my head!/em Byte thrashed against him yet again, but he just shoved her aside with a hiss./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now, you are under my control. And now that your pathetic minds are not your own, you will not fail against the heroes so easily. Now go, and weaken them for me. It will be easier for me to finish them all, that way," Tedium ordered them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emNo!/em Byte sobbed. emYou can't destroy the heroes. They're my only friends. Please, don't do this!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emYour sobs are worthless, little girl,/em Tedium thought back. emI was /emprogrammedem to destroy the heroes. That is my purpose, just as your purpose would have been to bring back creativity in your world. But it will soon be too late, child./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWhat do you mean, my purpose?/em Byte asked weakly, feeling crushed. Fighting against him was so hard, and she was so sure it was all over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emIt matters not, anymore,/em he replied. emIt is all coming to the end./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And it was all her fault. If she had never played the games, Tedium would have never been released. If she hadn't been such a brat and abandoned poor Rose, Tedium wouldn't have a way to travel. He would still be trapped on the Forbidden point./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI hate myself,/em Byte thought quietly as she faded into the tiniest corner of her mind. emI'm so worthless. I've ruined everything./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDon't give up. Never give up,/em a voice whispered to her from her heart. emIt's not over yet, Byte. You can still be a hero./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emBut I can't,/em Byte whimpered back to it. emI'm not a hero. I don't have any special powers./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emYou are of the tribe of the Ancients. You have a very powerful imagination. And maybe you are not strong enough to fight him off, but it is. You can do anything, be anything in your imagination, Byte./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Acting like this new voice's presence brought him pain, Tedium reached over and let out another dark cloud, plunging Byte into another memory./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"********************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, whatever it was, it hasn't happened again," Rose sighed, pulling her knees to herself and resting her chin on them. Thdwee came over and tugged on her jacket's sleeve until she sat up and pulled him into her arms gently. "Are you tired again?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee," he nodded, rubbing his eyes, and then falling asleep in her arms. She smiled warmly down at him, folding a little piece of her jacket over him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thdwee has certainly taken quite a liking to you," Meta Knight commented from his spot on the prow. He had been rather quiet and thoughtful since he had returned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning a bit, Rose suddenly asked, "How did you know that Galaxia wouldn't hurt me?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Looking over at her sideways, he replied simply, "I know many things."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You're not getting out of it that easily," Rinda laughed as she glanced up from her sketchbook, seated with her back against the side of the ship. She was busy drawing what she saw, which at the moment was Rose holding Thdwee, with Meta Knight staring out at the sea on the side of the page./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmm," he answered, then sighed. "Whereas I did not know about the points, or about the Home Dimension, or even about what forms they would take, I did know that there were going to be non-heroes. I also knew that a great evil was coming. I knew these things from prophecy books./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I also knew that one of the non-heroes was to be a swordsman, and also that that non-hero would be separated from the others. So, when we were taken by the turtle king and the glove, I knew Rose was the one. And I knew that she was worthy of Galaxia's use, also from said books. Are you both satisfied with that answer?" he finished, not cold, but not warm, either./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Rose nodded. "It's good enough for me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Me too," Rinda agreed, then yawned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everything was quiet for a moment, but then, Meta Knight grew tense. "Enemies are approaching."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who?" Ash gasped, popping up from where Rose and Rinda thought he had been napping with his cap pulled over his eyes, a feet away from them. Pulling out a Pokéball, he prepared himself to fight./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All of the other points' fiercest foes, and... DeDeDe," Meta Knight answered, seeming more irritated than worried by DeDeDe's being included. "All of you, prepare for battle."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Carefully getting up, Rose walked away and put Thdwee below deck where Kirby and the other two-thirds of the Waddle Three were sleeping. She then drew her sword, holding the hilt tight, and returned to stand behind Meta Knight./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda reached her hand into the pocket of her dress and clenched the Non-Hero's stone for a second, and then pulled out a Pokéball. "Lapras, I choose you," she whispered, letting the Pokémon out into the surrounding ocean./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Holding a hand to his glasses as he ran, scared he'd lose them into the waters, Geek Toad came over. As soon as he'd reached the others, he pulled out his book and pen. After thinking a second, he drew something quickly, and out of the book came a fairly-big, crimson-red, robotic dragon. The kind that was shaped like a snake, and had no legs, instead seeming to swim through the air, even without wings./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is impressive. This reminds me of another's abilities," Meta Knight murmured to him, still looking out at the seas./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's that?" Geek Toad asked as he mounted the dragon, which made a happy purring sound at being ridden. "Oh, brother. It's a dragon, but is it going to act like a fuzzy kitten?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning away from the ship, the dragon then growled and breathed fire into the night. "I guess not," Geek Toad answered his own question./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight nodded once, on the verge of amusement, but not enough to make his eyes change color. "And to answer your question, one of the other heroes in Dreamland. I myself have never fought alongside her, but Kirby says she's a good ally. Then again, Kirby says everyone who fights with him is a good ally."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario and Luigi came over, ready to help protect the ship, and, more importantly, the non-heroes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now," Meta Knight whispered, finally letting go of his cloak and drawing Galaxia. "Let us begin!" he shouted out into the night, holding his sword up so it began to glow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""For Nintendo World!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emTo be continued./em/p 


	20. Byte's Revelation

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's POV:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I shiver a bit, then open my eyes. This is strange, I don't recognize where I am at all. This must be a memory that's Tedium's shoved me into, but if it is, why don't I know what's going on?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I'm in a stark, white room, and I'm sitting at a desk. A desk just like the kind they have at school, gray with a touchscreen surface. Without thinking about it, I swipe my hand across the screen to 'wake up' the computer. The screen lights up, and is blank-white for a second. Then, it shows nine dots in a tic-tac-toe style box shape. Huh. That's weird. What's going on?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Words appear on screen: "Connect all the dots without going back over what you've already drawn."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Hmm. Okay. I think for a minute, then try something. It doesn't work, so the computer makes a buzzing sound and clears the board again. Okay. I think some more, then grin. I just have to think, literally, outside of the box. Trying again, this time I solve the puzzle. Making a happy binging noise, the computer goes blank again for a second, then more words appear onscreen./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You are in a cave full of old artifacts. You do not have any food, water, or batteries. The only exit is blocked by a pile of heavy rocks that are too big for you to move. What do you do? Feel free to ask what supplies you have."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I think. This sounds like a puzzle dungeon in the Legend of Zelda, and I know exactly how to get out of one of those. With a grin, I ask, "Do I have matches?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Dangitall. "Do I have rocks?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The computer seems confused, then answers, "Yes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ha! Now we're getting somewhere! "Are any of the artifacts flammable or explosive?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Again taken aback, it hesitantly replies, "Yes."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I would strike rocks together until I had made a small fire. I would then place all of the flammable or explosive objects at the entrance of the cave, and set fire to them," I tell the computer confidently. I still have no idea what's going on, but that was simple enough. Rule number one of gaming: when stuck, blow stuff up. Wouldn't always apply to real life, but it solved the posed problem, didn't it?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The computer thinks a second, then says to me, "That is an... original, answer. How did you come up with that?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Warily, I reply, "I have quite an imagination."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We know. That's why you're here, Byte Sakurai," a human voice says, a person coming through a door I didn't see before./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What do you mean, Sakurai? People haven't had last names for hundreds of years," I tell the science-y-looking lady that appears. I say 'science-y,' because she's wearing a lab coat, and has her hair pulled back out of her eyes. It's perfect blond hair, and she also has sapphire blue eyes. That's the kind of appearance that makes any girl within a ten-mile radius take a critical hit on her self-esteem. "I don't even know what my last name is. I couldn't, the World Government has been taking children and giving them to whichever family seems most efficient for them to be in for centuries. I don't even know who my birth parents were, my adoptive parents don't know who theirs were, either."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""True, Byte. But the World Government keeps track of that sort of thing. Certain genes can continue to travel through families, even when the World Government is in charge of matching couples based on what would be most efficient," she answers, using a stylus to scribble something down on the computer/clipboard she carries. "You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you?" she asks. She's formal, but not mean at all. She even gives me a reassuring smile as we speak, so I know she's not a complete Vulcan like most people are./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," I admit./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, you've been disappearing off the map a lot lately. So we tracked you closer, and noticed you've been going Outside. Now, this is technically illegal, but you haven't been bringing anything dangerous back with you, you've been keeping your grades up, and you've still been very well-behaved. So we know you're not doing anything bad out there. But I have to wonder, Byte, what is out there that you can't find in here? There isn't companionship out there. There isn't anything exciting to do out there. Why do you go, Byte?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't want to answer on the record," I reply. Every Citizen has the right to do that. (For now. Again, give them a few decades. Or maybe even just years.)/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, then off the record," she assures me with another small smile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Now I'm forced to answer, but she's not allowed to use it against me. "I play really, really old video games out there. I also draw, and enjoy the fresh air and the sky. I also like to just sit and daydream, and use my imagination."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Seeming disappointed, she emtsks/em, "Imagination is inefficient, Byte. Why can't you find something constructive to do with your time? You are... 15, now. Old enough to get a part-time job helping code computers, or something. You could be a teacher's aid to one of the robot teachers in the elementary schools. Why do you need to waste time on imagination?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Again, I don't want to answer on the record. Off the record, I do because I don't like real life. I like pretending to be somewhere else," I explain./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But it's all just pretend. Daydreaming can't change anything in your real life. You are the only one who can change things in your real life," she tells me, sounding sympathetic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But I can't!" I argue. "The World Government chooses everything. They'll choose where I live, what I do for work, who I marry, who will get my kids, whose kids I'll get, they'll even choose when I die. Heck, they even choose what I eat! Where I live! Where I go to school! What subjects I take! What my clothes look like! There's emnothing/em in my real life that I can change!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, she scribbles something down. Oh, shoot. I didn't say that had to be off the record. I'm doomed, now. I don't even know what sort of punishments the World Government uses for treason or going Outside, you never hear about anyone breaking the rules. Maybe no one does, or maybe we just aren't told when they do./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Abruptly changing the subject, she tells me, "Byte, these tests were to see how much imagination you have. When children are born, the World Government does a simple procedure that siphons off most of their imagination. Some is left, otherwise they would only be robots, essentially. But sometimes, the procedure doesn't work. Most common result is, you end up with someone with a bit too much imagination, which is okay. Less often, the child will die. But only once before, in the history of the World Government, has the child come out with all of her imagination left. That once was with you, Byte." She looks at me very seriously, studiously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So you guys really do take imagination away," I gasp. "How could you? You treat us like animals!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She scribbles again. Oh, Byte, you are an idiot. Epic maskpalm, all that./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not like animals, like programs," she disagrees. "Each person is a program that helps keep the world going. When all the programs work together, the world runs like a well-maintained computer, which is good and efficient. But when even one of the programs starts malfunctioning, or worse, begins acting like a virus; then you have a problem." She looks at me hard, not stern or meanly, just like she's trying to memorize something about me, or like she's trying to solve some really hard equation in her head. "You know that life is considered very precious by the World Government, they do whatever they can to preserve it, until the optimal time has come for the person to pass on. And the earliest that ever happens is when one is at least eighty." Abruptly changing the subject again, she asks me, "Have you ever wondered why there is no crime? No robberies, or murders, or anything?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I guess, a few times," I shrug back, a bit surprised by the sudden inquiry./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She looks deep into my eyes from where she stands about three feet away from the desk. It's unnerving, like she can see down to my soul, almost. "It's because without imagination, people can't come up with ideas for crimes. The world is a peaceful place, because it takes imagination to get really mad at someone. That's why there's no war, either. Imagination is emdangerous/em, Byte. And since you're the only one with a full imagination, anymore, emyou're /emdangerous. The World Government doesn't like that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But, imagination can also be beautiful. So many wonderful things have come from imagination. Music, which is now illegal to make, and many kinds, to listen to. Art, which is now illegal to make, and many kinds, to look at. Storytelling, which is now illegal to do, and many stories, to read or hear. Ingenuity, which is now illegal, unless you have a permit and work for the government," I argue passionately, throwing every bit of my heart into it. I stand up and slam my hands down on the desk, making the screen pop up a 'Please be careful with the touchscreen!' message./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""To be human emis/em to imagine!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She seems a bit surprised by my answer, then half-smiles at me. "Well said, Byte. Very, very well said."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shocked, I stutter, "Wh-what?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is why you like those old video games, correct? Because they are imaginative? Because they have all of those things in them?" she inquires, still smiling at me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Y-yes," I answer, still even more lost than I was before./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My name is Cyber. I work for the World Government, as you can already tell. But the World Government isn't a person, the World Government is a computer. That's why everyone is treated like programs and forced to be efficient. It wants to make the world like itself. It was made by a couple of computer companies centuries ago as an experiment, an experiment that went haywire and took over the planet. And, arguably, humanity has had the most peaceful and efficient five hundred years in the history of the world, since it came to power. But the question is, is it worth it? These five hundred years have also had the least creative progress of any human era. Do you think it is worth it, Byte?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I'm even more shocked, I thought there was, like, a president or an emperor at the top, or something. But it makes so much sense. All security guards/policemen are robots. All teachers are robots. All doctors are robots. Any government-related position is handled by robots. "It's definitely not worth it. Why did they make it?" I shout, horrified that anyone would make something like this./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Originally, because they were jealous of another company. These companies made a few good games, but many of them were just full of pointless violence. But this other company, they made games with extremely unique characters, full of whimsicality and wonder. Ideas that the other companies wished they had come up with," she shrugs. "Jealousy is the cause of many, many human conflicts and failures. That's something else that is eliminated with imagination."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shaking my head in disgust, I demand, "So, how on earth do we shut it down?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It could only be shut down from the inside. A very long time ago, the one company came up with this idea first. They made a computer program that would be allowed to develop and change all by itself. It would be allowed to become its own world, full of its own characters, that were all sentient and had their own lives, that would develop in their own ways. None of them would even know they were just programs. The first ever programs to be whatever they wanted to be and make their own decisions, but still only programs, nonetheless. This computer could have people beamed into it in a way that was very similar to teleportation, but that no one else has ever been able to replicate. They called it, 'the Other Dimension.' Do you know what company that was?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. Microsoft? Apple?" I guess with a thoughtful frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No. Nintendo, Byte Sakurai."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oh, derp. Oh, wow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""One of your ancestors worked for them. Masahiro Sakurai, do you remember him from some of your research? He was your great-great-great-great-add-a-whole-bunch-more-greats-grandfather," she tells me with a bit of a smile./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I just... wow. Wow. WOW WOW WOW WOW OH MY FREAKING SHORTCAKES AAAAAAAH ahem, sorry. Done freaking out, for now. Maybe. But my really-great-grandfather was the guy to create Kirby? And the Smash Bros games? I can't believe it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Byte? Byte? Are you okay? Byte!" Cyber is waving her computer/clipboard in my face. "I'm sorry if that was a shock, somehow."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course it's a shock! No wonder I like Kirby best!" I laugh, a bit crazily, I bet./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"She smiles again, bigger this time. It reaches her eyes, even, making them crinkle at the corners. "Anyway, Byte. Many people who survived with a bit of their imagination, (including me,) want to shut the computer down. But we don't know how. However, we were wondering if you knew how to get to this 'Other Dimension.' That's the only place where the World Government can be shut down from. That's where his vital programs are hidden, in a move by Sony and Microsoft that was brilliant, but diabolical. And technically illegal, seeing as how the program belonged and was copyrighted to Nintendo. Do you know how to get there?" she asks, almost pleading. "We hoped you would, you're the only person left who seems to have any interest in Nintendo!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Closing my eyes, I think, wishing I could help. "No. I don't know anything about any 'Other Dimension.' I'm sorry," I tell her, sadly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Her face falls. "All right. Well, thank you for your time, Byte. As thanks for your cooperation, as long as you stay well-behaved and keep your grades up and such, we'll let you keep going Outside. You're not harming anyone. However, we have to give you a medicine that will make your brain put this occurrence in deep memory storage, where the only way for you to get to it would be if someone forced you to remember. Sorry, Byte. I'm especially sorry for this mess of a world we live in. Goodbye." Out of nowhere, she sticks a needle in my arm, and I'm gone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"********************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's mind:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As I wake up from the memory, I feel fuzzy at first, like I did when I got my wisdom teeth out a few weeks ago. (I'm sixteen now, so that memory is probably around a year old.) But then, it all starts coming back. The first thing I remember is that Masahiro Sakurai was related to me. That's kind of funny, it basically makes me Kirby, Waddle Dee, DeDeDe, and Meta Knight's... really distant cousin? I don't know for sure, but that's awesome./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The next thing I remember is that Cyber said that the 'Other Dimension' was a computer, like the World Government, that was allowed to develop itself. So, all of this world is a computer program. A sentient computer program, but still a program. Right now, while I'm in here, I'm a computer program. That's how I got in here, I now realize. I changed the teleporter into a human-to-file converter, that then teleported me into the 'Other Dimension.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Wow. I'm never telling any of the characters that. They would be emcrushed/em. My lips are sealed, on that one./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emBut where in here is the World Government?/em I wonder, then get an awful feeling. I look over at Tedium, who is laughing maniacally in a robotic fashion as he watches something, (with emmy/em eyes, thank you just the same.) What, I don't know, but at the moment, it doesn't matter, compared to what I've just now figured out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emTedium/em is the World Government. emThe World Government/em is Tedium. I am currently sharing a mind with the tyrant that has made my world such a terrible place, the tyrant that wants to drain emthis/em world of imagination, too. Well, too bad. The heroes won't let him. But then I remember, the heroes are going to be stopped and frozen. The non-heroes are the only ones who can fight it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning deeply, I wonder, emThere's five points on the star, but only four non-heroes. Shouldn't there be a fifth non-hero? I mean, the fifth point is the Forbidden point, but what was it supposed to be?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Forbidden point was where the Ancients were going to live, originally going to be known as The Home Point. But then, Darkness came. The Darkness came, and I was sent in, as well. I was weak and hadn't come to power yet, here or there. However, the Darkness was strong. But then, the Star Power, or whatever you want to call him, saw the Ancients' failure and sent in creatures of the Light, before the Ancients could make any of them but the original Guides. Legendary Pokémon, Hylian Heroes, Star Warriors, Lumas. Creatures that banished the Darkness with their various, unique abilities, and then continued to journey out into the galaxy, finding new planets, starting new civilizations. Star World, the Galaxies, many other such places. Some of the Ancients' rejected ideas for characters went out and began to inhabit the galaxy as well, which is where the other 'Star Warriors' in that pathetic old army came from. So, Byte. There /emshouldem be a non-hero from the Forbidden point. A non-hero of the Ancients' species. An Ancient who is considered strange, and an outcast, a weirdo, by her home. Does that sound like anyone you know?/em Tedium answers me, still watching whatever-it-is he's viewing with a quiet, evil, dark pleasure./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I gasp and clench my mental fists. I'mem the fifth non-hero?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emYes, but it matters not. You will never defeat me. This world is doomed to become exactly what I have made your world. A good, stark, bleak, efficient planet. Most of the creatures can simply be reprogrammed into what I want, being programs, after all. Even a sentient program can be changed. But the ones that aren't random occurrences, the ones that are direct products of imagination.../em He laughs evilly, in a way that makes me shiver. It's a dark, quiet, frightening laugh. emThose, I will destroy. Those, I will drain of their imagination that I run on, that feeds me, like those creatures your kind used to fear. Vampires, weren't they called? That's right. I'm an Imagination Vampire./em emI've already fed off of the Elvin boy, it made me strong enough to take over the villains. Only imagine if I had all of the heroes to feed off of at once./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThat's where all that imagination I take from your pathetic species goes. The game-overs released me, the imagination fuels me. But those whose imagination survives my procedure... They are poison to me. /emYouem are poison to me. But you are so weak, so pitiful, so precious, that I am able to resist your futile attempts. /emHe continues monologue-ing, so Byte uses Ignore. It's super effective!/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I am the fifth non-hero. How'd that oath Rose showed me in the Ancients' book go? I close my eyes, then thrash against Tedium with everything I have until I've gained control. Opening the eyes which are now mine again, for now; I look out into the night. I'm somehow floating above the ocean, and I can see a fierce battle going on between the heroes and the villains. With a sinking heart, I realize that it looks like the villains are winning. I can't help them, not yet. But thereem is /emsomething I need to do./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Taking a deep breath, I then scream out into the cool, salty sea air, "I am Byte! I am the non-hero from The Home Point, and I hereby swear to protect Nintendo World, even if it means my life!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I hear a cheer that sounds like Rose from the ship, and then Tedium takes back over. "She is weak! I have control!" he cackles out to them, and then shoves me aside forcefully into the corner of my mind. I'll stay here a little while longer. But not long. Not long at all, and I will be ready to fight. Until then, I will silently prepare myself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"This is my purpose, to help destroy Tedium, and then to bring back creativity in my world. It makes sense, doesn't it? I'm the Ancient, I'm the Player. Only for once, the Player will actually help save the day, instead of just controlling the heroes as they do it. For the first time, the Player isn't just playing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"For the first time, the Player is fighting alongside the heroes and non-heroes, the way it was always meant to be./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And so, I let out this battle cry where Tedium can hear it:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emFor Nintendo World, for my world, and for imagination everywhere!/em/p 


	21. The Heroes Fall

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose groaned as she clenched the hilt of her sword tighter and continued to fight against the force-field-like invisible wall that Ganondorf was using to try to crush her against the side of the ship. It had been a long, hard fight, and they were all growing fatigued. All but the villains, that is, who seemed to have limitless energy, and unlimited health, as well./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ganondorf cackled insanely as she neared the ship's railing, barely able to resist any longer. But then, she heard a sharp clanging noise, followed by Ganondorf letting out a roar of anger and spinning around to face his attacker, who was already gone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks, Meta Knight. That was a close one," Rose gasped out, able to take deep-enough breaths again now that she didn't have an invisible hard-as-rock wall pressed up against her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hm," he nodded at her once as he flew past, now busy dodging a fireball thrown at him by Bowser./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby had joined them once things had gotten noisy and currently had the Water Copy Ability (from the ocean,) which he was using to try to shove Bowser overboard, both standing near the entrance to below deck. But Bowser was very strong, and the little Star Warrior was starting to get really tired. It was way past his bedtime, and this battle had been going on for a pretty long time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby! Call for the Warp Star!" Meta Knight ordered his small ally as he soared past the pink puffball, deflecting another fireball with Galaxia as he went. Then, he warped out of existence, reappearing behind Bowser and taking a swing at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby can't, poyo. Kirby too sleepy," Kirby yawned back, rubbing his eyes and starting to drift off, in order to heal himself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Shotzo," Meta Knight hissed, grabbing the young one and moving him back below deck to where he'd be safe... for now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Up near the helm, Mario and Luigi were trying to fight DeDeDe. But with every jump attack they used, he just pounded them back down to the ground with his hammer. He kept chortling at them coolly, making their failure even more annoying and somehow humiliating./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meanwhile, Ash and Rinda were busy with Giovanni near the bow of the ship. Even though it was two against three, his Pokémon seemed to have unlimited HP, and they didn't have any Potion left, so he was obviously winning./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Geek Toad was flying around the ship, having his dragon blow fire at the villains whenever it was safe, which wasn't often. "You guys think you could give me more openings?" he called out, sounding irritated./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, as soon as these guys quit emtrying to kill us/em!" Rose shrieked back, angry, and yet, terrified at the same time. With a squeak, she jumped out of the way of a shot Master Hand fired at her. He was occupied with doing the same thing Geek Toad was, only doing so for the other side. And he, apparently, was finding a lot more 'openings' than the toadstool-man was./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just a little more, Blastoise!" Ash pleaded as his last Pokémon fell to the floor and closed its eyes, too weak to go on./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Blastoise," it moaned piteously, then fainted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No! Pachirisu!" Rinda simultaneously screamed, barely catching the Pokémon before it fell into the watery depths, having been hit by a Fury Swipes attack from Giovanni's Persian. "Return!" she ordered the now-fainted Pokémon, feeling so sad for it, and a bit guilty. All of the other heroes and non-heroes were actually fighting, but she and Ash were forcing the creatures to do it for them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm out of Pokémon," Ash murmured to Rinda nervously, turning away from Giovanni and toward her, a frightened expression on his face./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Same here. I'm surprised I managed to hang on so long, when I had fewer Pokémon than you," she replied with a weak smile. It was over, might as well just go with the flow and be happy, right?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Mario and Luigi finally were out of Mushrooms, 1-ups, and other power-ups, and were down to their little stage. One more hit, and they would be out. With a creepy chuckle, DeDeDe dealt the final blow. "Doo doodoo doo doodoo dooooo..." Mario sang weakly, then fainted, followed closely by his 'little' bro./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThis is terrible,/em Rose thought as she snuck up behind Ganondorf and stabbed at him. But no matter how many times she or anyone else hit him, he just got madder. None of the badguys were taking any damage whatsoever; they were practically swabbing the deck (excuse the pun) with the goodguys. emWhat can we do?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight appeared out of thin air again, ready to continue to battle valiantly against the evil sorcerer. But his attempts led only to Ganondorf having a sword come out of nowhere and drive itself through the Masked Knight's Dimensional Cloak and into the mast, pinning him there. He struggled to free himself from the cloth, but couldn't. He was stuck. "Shotzo," he hissed again, beginning to grow distressed, his now-dark-brown eyes reflecting that fact./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, you can stop now. You've proved your victory, haven't you?" they heard the semi-robotic voice that had been taunting them all the way through the battle say to the villains. All the way through, except for once when Byte broke through. Just that one little occurrence had given Rose so much hope for her Human friend, especially because of what she had said. /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Drifting over to the ship so they could see him, came Tedium, an eerie grin on Byte's face. "You can all just go home or whatever now, I'm through with you. You've served your purpose," he informed the badguys with a flippant shrug. The villains' eyes returned to their normal colors, and they all fell unconscious, then disappeared. To where, who knew?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Let Byte go! Let them all go!" Rose shrieked in anger, running towards the monster with her sword extended, intending only to scare Tedium out of the Ancient's body. "Or I'll destroy you!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sadly, it didn't work. Tedium wasn't going to be scared off that easily. "Pathetic child," he laughed at her, throwing a wall like the one Ganondorf had been using straight at her, shoving her forcefully out of the way. "You cannot force me to leave in that ridiculous manner. I'm afraid I like it here far too much for that." Turning to the heroes, he smirked. "Now, it is time for me to feed upon you. Who wants to go first?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After thinking a moment when he received no response, he cackled. "I know, I'll take the easiest ones first. I'll save the fun ones for last. So, let's see... Kirby didn't get to go first like he was going to, so how about we let him go second?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No!" Rinda and Rose shouted simultaneously, blocking the entrance to the below-deck area. "You can't have Kirby. You can't have any of them!" Rose added, holding her glowing sword in a defensive pose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Take me first," they heard a voice say softly. Surprised, Tedium turned around to see Meta Knight glaring at him, eyes red. "Well? Did you not hear me? I said to take me first, you foul creature!" he then roared, sounding angry. Yet again, Rose wondered how such a big voice, such a big spirit, could fit in such a small creature./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Laughing softly, Tedium floated over; and, leaning toward him like one would lean down to speak to a child, asked, "Why are you so eager to meet your end, little warrior?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I have seen so many of my allies fall, I do not wish to see the end of any more. Take me first, it would be a mercy," the Star Warrior demanded. His voice was full of disgust as he stared the disguised monster down, remaining brave and vigilant unto the very end./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Tedium laughed again and shook his head, slowly, a dark half-smile on Byte's face. "No. I'll save you for last, it'll be more fun that way. Letting you go now would be too kind of me, don't you think so? I mean, I don't want anybody thinking I'm merciful or soft, when I am most definitely not. It would be bad for my image, wouldn't you agree, little Star Warrior?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight's eyes went from red to brown, then a dark blue. "Very well," he sighed, and closed his eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No! Don't give up!" Rose shouted to him, but he ignored her, bracing himself for the things to come./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Cackling, Tedium declared, "Now, back to Kirby." Using his dark magic, he formed an invisible 'box' and dropped all the non-heroes into it; suspending them in mid-air above the ship. Even Thdwee was brought out from where he was hiding below deck and added in, dropping down into Rose's outstretched arms, then hiding his face in her shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Kirby came floating out, too, now awake and looking panicked. "Meta Knight, poyo. Rose, poyo. emAnybody/em, poyo! Help Kirby!" he pleaded as he struggled against the magic that carried him. "Kirby stuck! Kirby can't fight! Kirby need help!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Calm yourself, young one," Meta Knight replied softly from the mast, his head hung down and his eyes still closed. "It will be all right, in the end. Chin up, now. You are a brave warrior, remember?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Bottom lip trembling, Kirby nodded at his mentor. Meta Knight was always right, and Kirby knew how to be brave. He was the Great Warrior of the Stars, after all. After taking a deep breath, he turned to glare at the monster, who grabbed him out of the air as if to hug him. After just a minute, Tedium dropped the resulting statue to the floor, a brave expression still on the little one's face, even along with the fear in his eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby! No!" Rose screeched, kicking against the 'box.' She had grown rather fond of the little marshmallow, and this was terrible, watching a little kid be turned into a rock. "That's enough, Tedium! Stop it!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I will not, little girl. I am only starting," he giggled at her in his mix of his voice and Byte's. "Who should be next? Ah, how about the Mario Bros?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The non-heroes watched in horror as the two plumbers were turned to stone, not even being woken up. And then, Tedium chased Ash around the ship, until he had cornered and dealt with him. The statue of Ash was left in a defensive pose, wincing, with his arm blocking his face. /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sailor Dee was the next to go. Bravely, he just stood and looked right up at Tedium, eyes narrowed, while he was frozen. "You are a good soldier, Sailor Dee," Meta Knight murmured to him, still not opening his eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, little soldier. Now it is your turn. Any last words? For they really will be your last, you know," Tedium chortled as he floated back over to the Star Warrior./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, actually," he said, voice growing strong again. Opening his eyes, which were golden-yellow again, and lifting his head, he looked over at the non-heroes. "Do not give up. He cannot harm you, here, but neither you, him. Go to the Forbidden point, as the Princess instructed. Under no circumstances should you split up. Fight bravely, there is still hope left. Now, Rose," he continued, moving his gaze to hers. "Protect the book. Do not let it get lost, and do not let it trap you. Do you understand me, young one?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Hesitantly, she nodded once in reply. "Yes, sir."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good. I am confident that you will not fail, all four- emfive/em-" he added, looking over at Byte, "of you. May the Star Power guide and protect you." His words now directed to Tedium, he finished, voice freezing cold, "Now you may take me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks for giving me your permission," Tedium laughed, pulling off the Star Warrior's mask and then putting his hands on his head./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Byte managed to take over for just a second, just long enough to whisper, "I'm sorry, Sir Meta Knight. I'm sorry for being weak, and for all of this. I won't fail any of the non-heroes again." Meta Knight blinked his white eyes at her once in reply, face already frozen in a shocked expression, not having expected the de-masking at all./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""So he is just like Kirby," Rinda muttered, half to herself. "I just wish this wasn't the way we had found out."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He's like Kirby? I had guessed he was a monster converted to the side of good, or something," Geek Toad shrugged somberly, then had his glasses knocked off when a wave hit the ship, making him drop to his knees and start feeling around for them. "Dang it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning to the non-heroes, Tedium laughed maniacally, darkly, making them all shudder, especially poor Thdwee. Grinning creepily, he told them, "I will be expecting your arrival, pathetic children. Do not make me wait too long for our final battle."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Um, I'm not a kid," Geek Toad huffed, offended, as Tedium floated off into the night, a chilling, salty breeze following him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was just before dawn, the darkest time of night. It was so appropriate, seeing as how this was the darkest moment of the journey so far./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The rest of us are still kids or teens," Rose reminded the Toad sadly, as they were gently set back down on the deck, all relieved that they could move freely again. Solemnly, she picked the mask up from where it had been carelessly tossed onto the wooden floor, and put it back on the Star Warrior. "That way, he won't have to be bothered by its not being there when he comes back." Next, she carefully pulled out the sword that held him to the mast, and carefully set the statue down on the ground, putting his cloak (which hadn't changed, for whatever reason,) back to the way it should be. Noticing in amazement that it had seemed to fix the tear the sword had made itself, she 'hmm'd' thoughtfully. Meta Knight's cloak sure was a pretty cool tool./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How are we going to bring them back, though?" Geek Toad wondered. "Will they just magically return when Tedium is beaten? If we manage to beat him, and that's a really big 'if.'"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I don't know," Rinda sighed as she righted the Kirby statue so it was standing, instead of having its face in the deck; then did the same for Sailor Dee. "Princess Baika said that they could be frozen only because they are products of imagination. But how did he freeze them?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He said he was feeding off of them, remember? I think he was consuming the imagination out of them, leaving them as nothing but a rock," Rose guessed mournfully. "I can't believe this, though. All of these heroes, the bravest, strongest people from each of their points; finally beaten. These are the ones who have made it through the worst of the worst, and now they've finally lost."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""They haven't really lost," Geek Toad disagreed. "Assuming that we win, they've just lost emtemporarily/em. We'll bring them back, somehow."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, but how?" Rinda murmured, crossing her arms in morose thought./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee started a bit as he felt his amulet grow warm. Taking it in his paw-like hand and looking closely at it as he stood on Rose's head, he noticed that it was glowing, just the tiniest bit. "Dwee?" he murmured, ponderingly; then jumped. Had he just talked? "Dee?" he tried again, a bit louder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose jumped under him, then reached up and took him off her head, turning him so she could see his face. "Thdwee, you can talk now, too? That's great!" she laughed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dee dee dwee!" he agreed, having completely forgotten about the amulet, which had faded again for the moment. emWait, if I can talk, can I also sing?/em he wondered, then started belting out the first tune that came into his head: 'Jingle Bells.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dee dee dwee, dwee dwee dee, dee dwee dee dwee dee!" he sang, then 'smiled' at Rose, quite proud of himself./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ohmigosh, that was adorable!" Rose giggled, giving the little Waddle Dee a hug. "Thdwee, you are just a cuteness overload."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Laughing, Rinda agreed, "I'll agree with that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Snorting, Geek Toad huffed, "Oh, come on. Anyone can sing Jingle Bells, and he can't even sing it in plain Dreamlander or Mushroom-Kingdomese or whatever you wanna call our language."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Yet again, poor Thdwee deflated. "Ignore him. He wouldn't know a good singing voice if he tripped over it and lost his glasses," Rose scoffed, sticking her tongue out at the little Toad./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! Don't forget that I'm older than you, girly!" Geek Toad grumped, crossing his arms. "Show some respect to your elders!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, you guys. Calm down. We must stick together, we don't have the time or the safety for arguments," Rinda reminded him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's right," Rose nodded. "Since I'm the first non-hero, I'll be the leader. Is that all right with everyone else?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Fine by me," Rinda nodded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee!" Thdwee assured her, trying to wrap his arms around her neck and give her a hug, but not quite able to make his stubby little arms reach that far./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I guess I'd be outvoted anyway if I said no, so 'okay' from me," Geek Toad shrugged, pulling off his glasses and using the brim of his Toad vest to clean them, then looking at the eyewear studiously before he put them back on. "Personally, though, I would suggest we hurry to the point, as Meta Knight suggested. But once we get there, we need to be careful how far inland we go. Something tells me it'll be easy to get lost."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sounds like a plan to me. But first, we all need our rest. Let's get the heroes below deck, and then we'll join them down there and go to sleep," Rose ordered. "Thdwee, you don't have to help. I know you're not strong enough to carry any of these."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dee," he agreed with a sigh. All of the other non-heroes were at least able to be useful, all he could do was be cute. It kind of stank, being so little. Maybe someday, he'd be as big and strong as a regular Waddle Dee. And, if not, hopefully he'd at least get to stay with Rose. He liked her a lot, he didn't want to have to go back to Dreamland and be all alone again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Later, as the other non-heroes settled down to fall asleep, Thdwee curled up against Rose like he did every night, not noticing that the amulet had begun to glow again, very, very faintly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"********************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's POV:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you,/em I think at Tedium over and over again. I started when he finished feeding off of Meta Knight, and haven't stopped since. He's destroyed the characters I look up to most, and since it's not time for me to make my move yet, I'm instead getting my revenge by spending every ounce of my energy on driving him stir crazy./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Did you know that 'I hate you' is infinitely more fun to say if you use a different annoying tone of voice every time you say it? Well, if you didn't, now you do. Just your friendly little fact of the day from Byte, Inc./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emArgh, would you shut up already?/em he hisses at I /emsoem wish I was able to drain you like I do all of the others in your world. I don't know why I can't, but you are essentially the bane of my existence!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSo why don't you skedaddle? Leave me alone? Give me back my head?/em I suggest snidely, then launch right into another chorus of em'I hate you'/emsem'/em as soon as I've finished. Ooh, it's even more fun to say if you're singing it to the tune of "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. Yes, that's one of the handful of musical pieces that's still around./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Tedium moans, making me snicker in between verses. This is actually quite entertaining, watching this guy who's ruined my life and so many others go absolutely nutsoid, just because of little old me. I just hope that when it's all said and done, he doesn't make me regret it. I hope that we'll be able to stop him, the other non-heroes and I./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Well, the final battle draws ever closer. Part of me wishes it would just hurry up and get here, so it can end one way or another and just be done with. But the rest of me hopes it never gets here, because I'm so scared that we'll fail. I've never been a hero before, I've just controlled the heroes and let them do the hard work, me just watching and pulling the strings, or 'pressing the buttons,' if you rather./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But whatever happens, I'm going to give it my all. And I know the other non-heroes will, too. Maybe Tedium will win in the end. Maybe Nintendo World will be emptied of imagination forever. But there's gonna be one heck of a fight, first. And Tedium knows it, very well. I wouldn't say he's scared, but he's not excited, either, although he claims to be./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"So, it all comes down to the next few days, or maybe even less than that. And here's what I have to say about the whole thing: Let the games begin!/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pun not intended... maybe./p 


	22. The Final Battle

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOnboard the Warship Nintendo:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It was very late afternoon, but you wouldn't be able to tell. Fog covered the sun and the ocean, a thick, dark fog. It wasn't as dark or black as the Darkness, but it still made for slow-glowing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose was nervously pacing back and forth near the helm, hoping and yet dreading to soon see land through one of the occasional openings in the fog. Having no other way to get rid of her anxious energy, she pulled her sword out and began slicing through the air with it, battling imaginary foes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just be careful you don't break something," Geek Toad joked weakly, earning him a glare from Rose. This was no time to be in a jovial mood./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Geek Toad's dragon was gone, for now. It had disappeared back into the book at his request hours before, just like a Pokémon into a Pokéball. Speaking of which, Rinda's Pokémon were all in their Pokéballs. Rose had found a last bottle of Potion inside her knapsack, which Rinda was unsure of which Pokémon to use it on. Rose had suggested she wait, until they had more of an idea of what they needed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda, Geek Toad, and Thdwee had all slept fairly well. Actually, Thdwee's little-bitty, steady, even breaths had been the only thing that had kept her from having a panic attack./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Because Rose had slept terribly, waking up over and over again from the exact same nightmare: the non-heroes had lost, and they were trapped on the Forbidden point. All that was there was them, and the statues of the heroes, serving to remind them of their ultimate failure, as the world grew Darker and Darker around them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm so scared," Rinda shivered from where she sat down below, interrupting Rose's thoughts. She was curled up into a ball shape with her head on her knees. "We're going to fail, I just know it."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Don't think like that. If you say you're going to fail, then you've already failed," Rose told the Elf sagely./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That sounds like something MK would say," Geek Toad laughed at her. "Are you going to go on to become a cold-but-good-leader-y Star Warrior?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sounds cool to me, as long as I don't have to lose everything I love first," Rose shrugged. "I'd rather be more like Kirby. Happy, innocent, lovable, brave, but I'd still also want to be a good leader like Meta Knight. You know?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'd like to be more like Link and Ash, myself," Rinda admitted. "They're both so brave. And Link's so smart, always knowing what to do, and never saying anything until it's needed. But Ash has so much enthusiasm, and cares for his Pokémon so much, even if he does make them fight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Geek Toad agreed, "I'd like to be more like Link, too. But I also look up to Mario and Luigi. Bowser's way bigger than them, but they never back down from a fight. And they have so much fun going off to save Princess Peach, yelling 'Let's-a go!' and 'Woohoo!' the whole time. They just both know how to make the best of any situation."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling a bit, (conversation did help,) Rose turned to Thdwee, who was sitting in the corner and watching her. "Who do emyou/em look up to most, Thdwee?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Waddle Dee blinked his eyes at her for a moment, then pointed to her, Rinda, and Geek Toad in turn, 'smiling' as he did so./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What? Us? Why?" Rinda asked in surprise./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee just shrugged, unable to answer. But if he could have talked, he would have told them, "Rose, because she's so nice and happy. And she's also cool with her sword. I wanna be like Rinda, because she sees the beauty in everything, and loves everybody. And I wanna be like Geek Toad, because he's super-smart, and is willing to talk to anybody about practically anything. You guys are just as cool as the heroes, in my opinion. I just wish I had some sort of special quality of my own."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly growing tense, Rose sheathed her sword at her side. "We're almost there."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are you sure you're not turning into Meta Knight? Since when are you psychic?" Rinda teased her, half-heartedly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm not psychic; I can see land. Look," Rose pointed to not far ahead of them, through a clear patch in the fog./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay, that's creepy. What are those big yellow-and-black machines?" Geek Toad shuddered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And what are those scary-looking buildings?" Rinda demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shrugging and trying to act nonchalant, Rose explained, "I don't know about the buildings, but the machines are called 'construction equipment.' They're what you use to build houses and other buildings, and things."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Are they dangerous?" Geek Toad wondered, sounding scared./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not really. I mean, if they ran over you, they would be. But just sitting there, they're not," Rose reassured him. "So, when we get there here in a few minutes, what do we do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You're the leader," Rinda reminded her, looking up at her, frightened but determined./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""She's right," Geek Toad agreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Thdwee added, "Dwee, dee."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, then," Rose muttered, looking down at her sneakers in thought. "I guess what we should do is find Tedium, and get it over with."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We're gonna need more of a plan than that, girly," Geek Toad huffed, crossing his arms./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know, okay? I'm thinking," she glared at him, then closed her eyes and sank down to sit on the floor, her back against the helm./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The other non-heroes became silent again, all just watching Rose as she thought, her facial expressions changing several times in the process./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," she finally announced, eyes popping back open. "What we'll do is this: First, we'll find Tedium. Then, Geek Toad needs to draw his dragon back into existence. We'll have it blow some fire, maybe blow something up. The idea is to try to get Tedium flustered enough that Byte can kick him out. Then, we'll take him down. I have a feeling we'll know how when we get that far."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But that's assuming that Byte can beat him, inside herself," Rinda interrupted. "The whole rest of the plan hinges on that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's our best shot," Rose sighed. "Do you have a better idea?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, not really," Rinda admitted, while Thdwee and Geek Toad nodded at the same time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right then. Looks like we're here," Rose murmured nervously, taking hold of the hilt of her sword and squeezing it for comfort. Knowing how to wield the blade (with the blade's help) emdid/em make her feel more like she would be able to accomplish something. Maybe not enough, but at least something./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Together, the four of them managed to drag the anchor to the edge of the ship and throw it in the water. "Well, how do we get to shore?" Rose then wondered aloud. "Lapras is down for the count, unless we want to use our Potion on it. Do we have a longboat, or something? We really should have figured this out a long time ago."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah," Geek Toad shook his head, feeling like they were all idiots./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, I guess Lapras is the strongest of the Pokémon I have. Lapras, come on out!" Rinda ordered, trying to sound cheerful. All that resulted was a statue of a fainted Pokémon. Panicking, Rinda squeaked, "Oh no! They're heroes, aren't they? But how did Tedium feed off of them?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He probably went through the network that connects the Pokéballs," Rose guessed wearily. "Took 'em all when he went for Ash."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This is terrible, I can't fight now!" Rinda whimpered, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But suddenly, one of her Pokéballs begin to shiver. "What?" she murmured, confused, as she took it out of her pocket and looked at it. "It's Psyduck. How's he awake?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose laughed. "I don't know, but that's a Psyduck for you. Idiotic and completely out of it, but then they come through in a way you would never expect. But, still," she continued, quickly growing somber again, "How do we get to shore?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, duh," Geek Toad smacked himself in the head, nearly knocking his glasses off; then grabbed his book. After biting the tip of the magical pen for a moment, he started furiously scribbling. And out of the book came a wooden longboat, complete with self-rowing oars./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How do they work?" Rose asked, amazed, as the boat rowed itself right up to the side of the ship and stopped, quivering as it waited for them, like an eager puppy./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ignoring her for a moment, Geek Toad muttered, "What is it with these inventions and acting so cute and cuddly towards us?" Then, turning to her, he replied, "It's too complicated for you to understand. Trust me, it's pretty much rocket science."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee?" Thdwee inquired, looking at it quizzically. In his opinion, any inanimate object that could do anything for itself was a bit scary./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Exactly," Geek Toad nodded, having completely misunderstood poor Thdwee's comment. "You get it, don't you, Thdwee?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Shaking his head at the Toad, Thdwee thought, emNot really. I really wish you guys could understand me, although this whole making noise thing is pretty nice/em./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, sure," Rinda chuckled. "You just probably don't even completely understand it yourself."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hey! I'm the one that made it, girly!" Toad disagreed, highly offended./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sh!" Rose glared at him. "Let's go."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The other three all fell silent. After carefully hopping down into the boat, they began to be rowed to the shore./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose turned and looked at the ship. Even though the heroes were all gone, even though she couldn't even see them, she waved goodbye. With a tiny smile, she tried to convince herself that it wasn't really 'goodbye,' but just 'see you later.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And then they all turned, and bravely faced the coming battle./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Except for Thdwee, who hopped into Rose's arms, and hid his little face in her shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"**********************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's mind:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWelp, now that I've finished all of the 'Halle-hate-you Chorus,' how about we start in on '99 I hate you's on the wall?'/em I think at Tedium, smugly. He's so disgruntled and irritated by me, that as soon as the other non-heroes show up, I think I'll be able to break out pretty easily. And it's going to be rather epic, if I do say so myself. Which, I just did./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWould you just shut up?/em he groans, throwing a dark cloud at me, which I imagine into being a light, happy, fluffy, smiling cloud from the Mario games, the kind that Lekitu rides around on. Then, I send it back at him. He brushes it aside, where it dissolves in the corner of our mind, but I've proven yet again that if I know what I'm doing, he can't hurt me here./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Once I get out, it'll be a different story. I'll be just as breakable as any of the others. But, that's not here, yet. Byte, master of living in the moment, that's me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Tedium jumps up, making my body jump with him. "They are here," he whispers aloud./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHow close?/em I ask him, trying to sound nonchalant./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Very close," he replies darkly. "Any minute, and they will arrive."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I grin. emOkay,/em I think back at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, he tenses. "They brought their dragon, huh? As if that'll scare me," he laughs, but there's just a touch of nervousness to it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smirking, I tell him, emYou're gonna have to fight me before you can fight them./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""As if you can do anything against me. You've already proven that you can only take over for a moment, before I stop you," he cackles, still speaking aloud. Good job, Tedium. Tell the others right where we are, like a good little badguy./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAre you ready?/em I ask him, mentally standing up. I'm not going to just curl up in the corner, anymore./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course. The real question is, are you?" he asks back, an evil smirk in his voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emOh, yeah,/em I reply. emI'm done being a good little sheep. Byte's about to go wild./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Out of nowhere, I pull out an Elvin sword. From some corner of my mind, a Byte-sized Warp Star comes flying at me, and I jump on it. A Star from the Mushroom Kingdom appears, and as I touch it, I start sparkling, now invincible. And, to top it all off, a Mew appears and starts throwing attacks at Tedium, just as I arrive and swing my sword at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"He warps out of the way, appearing in another piece of our head. So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well, two can play at emthat/em game. A bright green (my favorite color) Dimensional Cloak appears on me, streaming behind me as I fly. Laughing, I warp over to where he is, immediately taking another swing at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emHow can you do this?/em he questions, glaring at me like he wants to kill me. Which, hey, guess what? He does! emYou have shown you are weak, you have shown you are powerless. Where are you getting all these weapons?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Excitedly discovering that I have my voice back, I say aloud, "I'm using something cool. It's called imagination. And once I kick you out, so you're just Static Man again; it's all gonna disappear. But in here, I can be anything. In here, anything is possible. The sky's the limit, Tedium; for me, anyway. But for poor little old you, the limit is a lot closer than that."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Go! Byte!" I hear someone laugh, and through the eyes that are mine again, I can see Rose outside, waving her sword in the air./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hiya, Rose. Think you can forgive me?" I ask as I close my eyes, so I can better concentrate on the battle within. As I corner Tedium yet again, my sword barely avoiding his static as I strike again and he dodges, I add, "I was a bit of a brat. Who am I kidding, I was a real brat. Leaving you there, when I was supposed to help. But guess what? That's not gonna happen again. The Player's on your side, now, guys."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course we can forgive you. Now kick Tedium out emhere/em so emwe/em can help fight him," Fail Toad orders me, sounding nervous but excited./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Will do, Toady," I tell him. Finally, I manage to drive my (really awesome) sword right through Tedium. With an angry shriek, I can feel him leave me. I can feel my mind and body finally become my own again. It's a wonderful feeling, owning my mind again, not having to share it with someone else. It's... freeing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I open my eyes back up, my weapons and Mew having disappeared. Now, there's no real way for me to fight him. The other non-heroes will have to take it from here./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Standing right in front of me, there he is, the Static Man of Boringness. And boy, is he ticked. This is where things are gonna get... well, complicated; to say the least./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"***********************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose grew serious as static came flying out of Byte, reforming into a humanoid figure. "All right, guys. Let's do this thing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You ready, dragon?" the Mushroom Kingdom's non-hero asked his giant pet./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Growling excitedly in reply, the dragon randomly breathed out fire, making a backhoe several feet away explode./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Woo! Pyromaniac much?" the Home Point's non-hero laughed a bit, racing over to where they were./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Why, thank you," Geek Toad bowed. "Just one of his many epic abilities. Right, dragon?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The dragon nodded proudly, then grew somber. Turning his gaze to Tedium, he growled again, sounding peeved./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""C'mon, Psyduck!" Hyrule's non-hero ordered, letting the Pokémon back out of his Pokéball./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Psyduck?" he questioned as he tipped his head to one side, acting like a normal, old, totally lost Psyduck./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That leaves me and Thdwee!" Pokémonland's non-hero said forcefully, pulling her sword out./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nothing came from Dreamland's non-hero./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Where'd he go?" Rinda wondered, upset by the little guy's sudden disappearance./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I dunno," Rose replied with a deep frown. "Did he get scared and run off?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You pathetic children really think your weapons will work against me? You're wrong," Tedium chortled as he shook his head at them. "The end is near, little ones."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not a kid!" Geek Toad groaned, hopping on his dragon. "Dragon, get him!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Happy to oblige, the dragon blew fire at the monster, but nothing happened./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose ran over and tried to strike him with her sword, but just got a shock in return. "Daisies," she squeaked as she fell over. She was stunned for a moment, but got back up a second later./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My turn. Psyduck, Psybeam!" Rinda ordered./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emPsyduck used Psybeam! Psyduck's attack missed!/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Lon Lon milk," Rinda groaned. "Try again. Come on, Psyduck. You can do it!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emPsyduck used Psybeam! Direct hit! It's not very effective.../em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You can say that again," Tedium laughed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Say what again?" Rose demanded./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, the people reading know what I'm talking about," Tedium snickered, wiping a hand across an invisible screen that only he could see, and/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongadklga;goasddjbawehg[oidsjg j oaiwheg;lask l;asdjf jk a jgoh adg pohaslgj aglk ja;lsdgh ohi lkjl n lawejt oih ;alkwg ;oiasdo nnawe;k I WILL WIN IN THE END lkanglkag likagoh lkkj adhk YOU ARE ALL POWERLESS AGAINST ME, YOU ARE ONLY FREEING ME WITH YOUR GAME-OVERS alkdg opasihgn awoep8gy oiialjs el;gbj l;qk345[09 8 p497610i jklafj I MAY NOT ATTACK FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER YOU READ THIS, BUT I WILL EVENTUALLY askldgn ;as lk aj ;lkkj as oiash AND WHEN I ARRIVE, YOUR WORLD WILL BE DRAINED OF IMAGINATION asdlfkj lj WILL YOU BE AMONG THE FEW BRAVE ENOUGH TO RESIST ME? gp9asy asdhoaign as;ldkg 0985 q2 d/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongc\:fullsystemcrash/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongWe're sorry, has quit working./strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongWe are trying to fix the problem./strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongc\:restart/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongc\:repairdamage/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongc\:damagerepaired/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongSorry for the inconvenience, we think we have fixed the problem. If issues continue, please contact the store at which you purchased this device./strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strong.../strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongc\:resumestory/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What just happened?" Byte demanded, looking at him in confusion and aggravation. He had laughed manaically for several seconds straight, but there wasn't anything happening, as far as she could see./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A smirk in his voice, Tedium replied, "Oh, nothing, little girl. Those who needed to see it did, so it all works out. Those in a place far away, in another time. Now, where were we?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The foul monster, the evil program, continued to fight against them; hitting them with several different kinds of attacks and sending them, quite literally, to their knees. They all fought bravely, but truly, their weapons could do nothing against him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"First to fall was Byte, since she had no way of defending herself. She went down with a weak but encouraging smile to the others, and a: "Tedium used Shock! It's super-effective! Byte fainted."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Geek Toad went next, when Tedium sent a shockwave through his dragon, knocking it out of the sky, and knocking the Toad out with it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, went Rinda, after her Psyduck had fainted the second time, after she had used her Potion. Just like many Trainers, the shock of having all her Pokémon gone made her black out. If only she could just reappear back home, like most Trainers did./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose went last, sinking to her knees as she was hit with a blast of static that made her feel all fuzzy, like the world was off in the distance./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry, heroes. I'm sorry, Princess. I'm sorry, to the whole world. But we've failed," she whispered in shame, her eyes drifting shut, Tedium laughing crazily in the background. "It's over, for all of us."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emTo be continued./em/p 


	23. Victory, Celebration, Going Home

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe Forbidden Point:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Poor little Thdwee had holed up inside a backhoe's back scoop, and had stayed there through the whole battle. Now, though, as he heard Rose fall, he felt something stir inside him. Was it... bravery?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sure, he was tiny. Sure, he was weak. But maybe, just maybe, there was something he could do. He was a non-hero, after all. They couldn't just completely write him off as being useless. Even Rose had counted all for lost, forgetting completely about him. He couldn't really blame her, but it was his turn to try./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With shaking paws, he stood up and took a deep breath. Slowly, he walked out from behind the backhoe, out to where Tedium could see him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, emyou're/em still here, aren't you?" the static-man chortled. "What are you going to do? Make puppy-dog-eyes at me in the hope that I'll back down? I'll tell you now, it would be wasting your energy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Ignoring him, Thdwee continued walking closer until he was about 10 feet away from the monster. There was now just enough space for ten Thdwees between him and the villain, and if that wasn't disturbing, well, then what would be?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWell, now what do I do?/em he wondered, then felt something warm, again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Picking up the amulet, he saw that it was glowing again, brighter than it had ever before. And somehow, he now knew what to do./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a 'smile,' he held his hands out in front of him, just like he would if he was about to play the piano./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What on earth are you doing?" Tedium demanded in bemused incredulity./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee started to move his hands through the air, as if he was pressing the keys. Softly at first, then louder and louder, music started to sound. And then, music notes started literally appearing in the air around him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The music began to wake the other non-heroes up. "Ugh," Rose moaned, reaching to pick up her sword. Rinda did the same with her stone, and Geek Toad with his book. Byte just groaned and stood up, dusting herself off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But then, a beam of light came out of the amulet, hitting each of the non-heroes tools. "Wh-what?" Rinda gasped. "M-my stone, it's... a piece of artist's charcoal?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My sword!" Rose panicked. "It's turned into a pen!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Nothing happened to my book," Geek Toad shrugged./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And I'm still just plain old Byte," Byte murmured, feeling pretty much worthless at the moment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But how are we supposed to fight, now?" Rose wondered, distressed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee!" Thdwee interrupted their panic-fest, eyes closed and concentrating on his music./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everyone looked over at the Waddle Dee, then finally noticed the notes in the air around him. Tedium was still watching, seeming amused. "What are you going to do now, pathetic little non-heroes?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dwee-ee!" Dreamland's non-hero finally shouted, and the notes started shooting themselves at Tedium, like lovely-sounding missiles./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What?" Tedium gasped as they hit him. "That actually... hurts," he whined, sounding confused. "Why do they hurt?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose was the next to get it. "That's how it is," she grinned, uncapping the pen. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened her eyes and began to write in the air. emOnce upon a time.../em appeared before her in rose-red, softly-glowing letters. Laughing, she continued to move her pen through the air, writing a simple story about a Star Warrior and an Azurill meeting each other and becoming friends. The words danced in the air around her, then also started streaming toward Tedium, who was beginning to become distressed as he swatted at the imaginative attacks./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""My turn!" Rinda declared. Using her charcoal, she began to draw in the air. A drawing to go along with Rose's story, of an Azurill and a small Star Warrior playing by a calm stream. The drawing came to life in midair, the black-and-white characters running joyfully towards Tedium while laughing in childlike innocence./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Byte's eyes lit up. No one noticed, but she pulled her handheld supercomputer out and started frantically whispering to it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No! Why is this hurting me? Why do I feel as if I am growing weaker?" Tedium panicked, trying to brush the attacking imagined objects off, but failing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Me next! Me next!" Geek Toad cheered. Excitedly, he began to scribble in his book, and out came dozens of fireworks, which exploded into different shapes. A Maxim Tomato, a 1-up Mushroom, a Healing Fairy, a Pikachu's face; all sorts of things from all of the points. Each explosion drenched Tedium in sparks./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""This may be annoying, and it may weaken me some, but you still will never be able to rid yourselves of me!" Tedium shrieked at them, growing angry enough to find the strength to rush at them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ha! Got it!" Byte suddenly whooped./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Growling, Tedium skidded to a stop and turned to look at her, inquiring disdainfully, "Got what, little girl?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Computer, access file ," Byte ordered, smirking at him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""File accessed. What do you want to do with this file?" the computer asked in Kirby's voice./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's weird," Geek Toad muttered as he looked at it, somewhat suspiciously./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Delete file," Byte told it, staring the monster down the whole time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No," he whispered in horror, then let out a scream of anger. "No, no, no! You cannot do that! You will never defeat me!" he raged, running straight towards Byte. She just stood and watched him calmly./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That is a fatal operation. Are you sure you wish to delete file ?" the computer worried./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, yeah," Byte replied, her smirk growing bigger./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Deleting ," the computer announced, voice chipper./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""NO! NOOOOOO!" Tedium screeched as he started to vanish out of thin air, from the bottom up. "NO! The one way to destroy me! How did you ever find it out?!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Easy. When you've got a virus, you delete it. That simple," she laughed at him. "Consider this payback for stealing my mind. Have fun out in the oblivion of cyberspace. Oh, and one last thing- I hate you."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a final scream of rage and terror, Tedium vanished, hopefully never to be seen again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of the non-heroes cheered, running together in a big group hug, no one caring how awkward their greatly-varying sizes made it. "We did it! We did it!" Rose laughed. "We've saved the world!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who's a failure now? Huh?" Geek Toad grinned. "Wait'll I get home! This is so cool! I just freaking helped to save the planet!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You know what the best part is?" Rinda giggled./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After picking up Thdwee and throwing him up into the air once, catching him back in her arms in a big hug, Roe asked the Elf, "What?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We ended up winning with the power of creativity, after all," Rinda replied, looking happily at her stone-turned charcoal./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""True, but I'd kind of like my sword back," Rose chortled. "That thing was epic."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It was," Geek Toad agreed. "At least my book stayed a book."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It's all thanks to Thdwee," Byte reminded them, reaching over and tickling the little Dreamlander, making him giggle silently. "He's the biggest hero, today."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But you're the one that actually got rid of him," Rose remembered. "How'd you do that, anyway?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Frowning, Rinda agreed, "Yeah. How were you able to just... delete, him?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Byte felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. She should've known they'd ask questions. "It's cause I'm an Ancient. I could do that with any of you," she half-fibbed. "But he's the only one that needed to be gotten rid of."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Okay," Rose shrugged, accepting that answer. Byte exhaled in relief that the others had just let the subject drop./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After taking his glasses off and giving them a celebratory wipe-down, Geek Toad's eyes suddenly grew wide. "But what about the heroes?" he wondered, as the sun began to break through the fog, illuminating the dark point./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The whole group grew solemn. "That's a good question," Rose murmured sadly. "How do we bring them back?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, first we should get back to the ship," Byte said. "If that's okay with Rose, that is. She's the leader."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Sounds like our best move, for now," Rose agreed./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Minutes later, the non-heroes, now emheroes/em, were back onboard the Warship Nintendo. "Seriously, though," Rinda sighed. "What do we do?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee frowned from where he stood on Rose's head, as his amulet grew warm, yet again. With a hopeful 'smile,' he hopped down from Rose's head, and touched the glowing amulet to the Kirby statue, which was nearest him./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A warm, happy light went out from the amulet, surrounding the little Star Warrior. And seconds later, they all heard a joyful, "Poyo!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Kirby!" Rinda and Rose laughed in unison./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rinda poyo! Rose poyo!" he rejoiced, leaping into both girl's arms at once. "Didja win? Didja didja poyo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Kirby. We won!" Rose laughed, ecstatic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""That's good to hear, Rosie," a voice said from behind her./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Ash! You're all right too!" Rose shouted, giving the poor kid such a sudden big hug that he nearly fell over./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Easy, easy. You'd think I just came back from the dead," he joked, earning him a glare. "Sorry, maybe that wasn't completely appropriate."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Eh, you just got resurrected. I think I can forgive you," Rose grinned./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Thdwee continued to wake up the heroes with his amulet, until everyone, including the Pokémon, was back to normal./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Now we need to just go get Link," Byte laughed. "He's still probably standing in the middle of the street in Nintendo City, poor guy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nodding, Meta Knight agreed, "We will set sail at the Princess's command."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The Princess isn't a-here. Do you-a have dat-a mask on a-too tight?" Mario wisecracked, earning him a high-five from Luigi./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight gave him a stare that clearly said,em As if I have not heard that one before./em "Actually, Mario, the Princess is here. She's right behind you, even."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everyone turned around and stared at.../p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight walked over to her and gave a little bow. "Your Highness."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""M-me?" she squeaked. "I'm the Heir? You aren't just guessing, are you?" she accused the Star Warrior with a frown./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""No, I was told so by one of Princess Baika's guards before I returned to the ship, days ago," he shrugged, going to take his normal spot at the prow./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""He's right," a light, happy, young-sounding voice agreed. Surprised, everyone turned around. Even the Masked Knight's eyes flashed white for just a second./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Standing before them, was the ghost of the late Princess Baika. "Rose, you are now Princess of all Nintendo World. Nintendo City is preparing for your coronation even as we speak."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Really?" Rose squeaked, still not believing it./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Really," the old Princess laughed back. "But that does not mean that the others don't have great futures ahead of them. Geek Toad, you're going to Hyrule. Many people there would love someone with a big mind full of good ideas. Maybe it can even be arranged for you to be Hyrule's Head Inventor."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I-I'd be honored," Geek Toad sputtered, surprised. "That'll be awesome! I'll get more time to hang with Link!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smiling, the ghost turned to the Human member of the party. "Byte, you're going home and doing some pretty big things there, yourself. I'll warn you, things might be a little chaotic when you go back, after the celebration."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I bet," Byte nodded, with a brave smile. "But hopefully, things are going to turn out really well."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sure they will, with your help. Just because you're young doesn't mean you can't do big things. Remember that," Baika ordered gently. Turning to Rinda, she continued, "You'll be going to Pokémonland. Professor Oak needs a good artist to help him catalogue new Pokémon and such, and I'm sure the creatures will be happy to have someone with as good a heart as you have around."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Th-thank you, ma'am,' Rinda murmured, then laughed happily./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And last but not least, little Thdwee," Baika turned to the Dreamlander, who was being held by Rose at the moment. "Rose is going to need her own little messenger and scribe. Are you up to the task?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After just a second's hesitation, the Waddle Dee began to nod eagerly. "Dwee! Dee!" he said excitedly, air-hopping out of Rose's arms and trying again to fit his arms around her neck./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Laughing, Rose told him as she kissed his little head, "I love you, too, little guy."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Turning back to the new Princess, Baika added, "One more thing, Rose. I should probably tell you now, so you won't be confused. It's a law passed down by the Ancients that every Princess's name be in the language of the Ancients, so from now on, you're going to be known as Princess Bara."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Bara?" Rose wrinkled up her nose./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It still means 'Rose,'" Meta Knight reassured her from where he stood not far behind her, as they all continued to look at Baika./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yeah, but Rose is prettier. Fine, my official name is Bara, but my friends must all call me 'Rose,'" she agreed with a grin./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, then, or as the Ancients used to say, emsore jaa/em," Baika finished. "Farewell, to all of you. Thank you, new heroes, for saving our world. Thank you very much, indeed. Bara, rule with a kind hand, and you will be loved as I was; and someday, remembered as fondly as I am."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, ma'am," Rose replied, a moment later than she should have, still trying to get used to her new name./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I put up with the name 'Baika,' you can learn to love 'Bara,'" the previous Princess chortled, then disappeared to be with her old friends./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, your Highness," Ash said, then wrinkled his face up in distaste. "I can't believe I have to call you that. I can't call you 'Rosie' anymore."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Who says?" Rose huffed, crossing her arms. "Seriously, maybe I'm suddenly in control of the whole planet, but I don't want you guys to treat me any differently. I'm still just Rose."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, 'just Rose,'" Meta Knight chuckled softly as he looked up at her, "Are you ready for us to set sail?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes," she agreed, shaking her head in bemusement. "That sounds like a plan."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"One last time, she went to the helm. "Well, off we go to Nintendo City!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Nearly everyone cheered. Except for one person, who just nodded. I'll just let you guess who./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"***************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"When they arrived in Nintendo City, it was to a huge celebration. Not only was the new Princess gladly welcomed, but all of the non-heroes were, too. As soon as she arrived, Rose was led off by several girl Elves into the castle, to be prepared for the coronation./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Dis-a is a bit-a strange," Mario remarked to the other original heroes. "I'm-a used to da party bein' for me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We all are, but it is good to be made to share the spotlight," a quiet voice murmured from behind the whole group, making them spin around again. There, with Thdwee on his shoulder, was the Elvin hero, Link./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Everyone felt a bit embarrassed over basically forgetting him, but he didn't seem to mind too bad, as he smiled quietly at all of them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Link!" Rinda squealed, running over and giving him such a big hug that it knocked them both over. "Sorry," she blushed, giggling, as she got up and helped him up, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Rinda," he sighed, amused, as he took her hand and kissed it in a gentlemanly fashion. "Thank you, for saving the world."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Anytime," she giggled again, a bit star-struck./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, some things never change," Rose laughed, rejoining the group. Yet again, everyone spun around, this time to see the new Princess./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Dressed in a rose-red, short-sleeved dress, with her hair up in a lovely princess-y bun, a few strands being allowed to fall out and frame her face; Rose sighed. "I feel so... different. Like, out-of-place. I never dress up, I'm not much of a girly-girl."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Says the girl who wore the too-big Elvin dress until someone convinced she was going to die of heatstroke if she didn't change. And squeals like crazy when something is cute and tries to hug whatever-it-is to death," Ash snorted./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Thanks, Ashy," Rose rolled her eyes./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What are kid brothers for?" Ash joked./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You two are brother and sister?" Meta Knight asked in surprise./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Not really, our parents are just really close friends. So we basically grew up like siblings," Rose explained with a shrug. "That's why we have so much of a sibling rivalry complex."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Smirking, Ash nodded in agreement. "Yep. And I always kind of won, being the one with all the badges, but becoming Princess is kind of a hard feat to top."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Just wait 'til you end up being the first-ever Trainer to collect emall/em the gym badges," Rose reminded him with a laugh, taking his cap off and ruffling his hair, earning her a glare./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I assumed you were just acquaintances," Meta Knight frowned to himself. "I hate it when I am wrong."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"For some unfathomable (to him) reason, the rest of the group burst out into laughter, making him glare out at the universe and draw his cloak tighter around himself. "It was just a little thing, and I am usually right. There is no need to mock me."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""We're not mocking you, Bluey," Rinda reassured him. "It's just nice to find out even you aren't completely perfect."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, I am far from perfect," he sighed, glaring at her sideways for using an annoying nickname. Then, turning to Rose, he suddenly declared, "Speaking of which, your Highness. I must have a word with you."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh, right," she nodded, following him apart from the group./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I will take the book now," he stated simply. "It will return with me to Dreamland, where it will be appropriately dealt with, as we planned."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Never," she hissed, making him jump, then wrinkling up her nose to show him she was only teasing, earning her yet another classic Meta Knight glare. She pulled it out of her knapsack, (which she was still carrying, even though it didn't match her dress in the least,) and handed it to him. "Just make sure it doesn't trap you, or anyone else, all right, Mister Knight?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course, Princess Bara," he nodded once, accepting it and then tucking it into his cloak. (It really did make for a good storage device. Hopefully the poor Goomba didn't end up eating the book, or something.) "This Dark Bibliochimera will never bring harm to anyone, ever again."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Good," she agreed, kneeling down and giving him a hug, which he didn't resist, but did not return, either./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Was that really necessary?" he sighed, perturbed, as she let him go a moment later./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes," she chuckled. "I'm afraid it was, Stoic Knight."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hmph," he sighed, following her back to the others, but allowing himself just a tiny smile. He would never in a million years admit it, even if held at sword-point, but it emwas/em nice to be cared for./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*******************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After a day or so, everyone except for Byte, Thdwee, and Rose returned to the ship; ready to go home./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wait," Rose called, catching up with them before they set sail. "I can get you guys home, quicker."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""How?" Kirby asked in surprise. "You can get Kirby home in time for Christmas?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes, Kirby. I can," she smiled. "It's a Princess thing."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Reaching her hands out and allowing the Light energy in the air to begin to swirl into visibility, she surrounded each group of heroes one at a time, sending them home with a flash of Light./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Link and Geek Toad appeared back in Hyrule, to find an overjoyed Zelda with quite a story of her own to tell them, although it took her awhile to get used to Geek Toad. He wasn't like anything she had ever seen before, except in the Ancients' book, of course./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Rinda and Ash went back to Pokémonland, arriving back at the research center, nearly giving poor old Prof Oak a heart attack when they told him Rose wasn't returning, because of her new career./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Meta Knight, Sailor Dee, and Kirby arrived back in Dreamland to find a DeDeDe who was ever-so-glad to have his rivals back. He demonstrated this clearly by grabbing the group into a big hug, without warning; then just as suddenly proceeding to chase them around with his hammer. This, of course, thoroughly offended Meta Knight, who warped away with an irritated sigh the first chance he got. And, true to his word, he put the book where it could never again get to harm anyone... emOr could it?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And Mario and Luigi went home to the Mushroom Kingdom, to find Peach and Daisy cheerfully waiting for them in Peach Castle, with an unbelievable tale to tell and a kiss on the nose for each of the Bros./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And last but not least, Byte was sent back home with the help of Rose's magic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Back in Nintendo City, Rose stuck her face out the window and inhaled the salty sea air. All of the wonderful creatures from each of the points wandered around the marketplace below her, as the sun set in the sky, filling the atmosphere with beautiful shades of pink, red, orange, and violet./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"All of Baika's pets had passed along with her, (including Deedee, bless his vain, little, shin-kicking soul,) so the only companion she had was little Thdwee. Well, and the Elvin guards and Manga-Head servants, of course. It was definitely a whole lot better than living in the research center had ever been, and she had already thoroughly fallen in love with this island./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, Thdwee," she sighed as she turned toward her little friend, automatically throwing a hand up to keep her silver tiara from falling off. The stupid thing drove her stir-crazy. The only time she was allowed to take it off in public was when she was practicing swordplay with some of the guards. "Do you think I should do it? I don't want to risk another war between the points, but I don't want to separate them again, either."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Seeming sad, he nodded. "Dwee," he murmured, pulling out a sheet of paper and writing in wobbly, kindergartener-level letters with her special pen, emI think it's a gud plan./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'Good' is spelled g-o-o-d," she advised him with a giggle, making him blush and hastily correct himself. Growing serious, she nodded slowly. "All right, then. Here goes." Letting the energy in the air play around her hands, she imagined the planet being torn to pieces again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"In each of the points, all of the heroes' heads popped up as the earth began to quake. emWhy is she separating us?/em they all wondered, while the rest of the populaces just grumbled about the mess it made, knocking their pictures off the wall, and such./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Except for Meta Knight, who grabbed hold of his desk to keep from falling over, then nodded to himself. "Just as I thought she would do, just a bit sooner than I expected."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emAnd so, Nintendo World was once again separated. But, surely, there will someday be another reason to rejoin the points. It just might take another eight hundred years. Well, with my fancy new immortality drive Byte said she gave me, I can wait that long./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emWell, here's where my part ends. Thanks for reading, dear Reader. I hope you enjoyed my first novel. And, yes, it's definitely true./em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em-Yours truly, Princess Bara/Rose, ruler of all Nintendo World, on New Year's Day of the Year 832./em/p 


	24. Return to Earth, The Silhouette

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emByte's POV:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I groan, feeling really stiff, like I've been sleeping for a long time. Opening my eyes, I expect to be in my cave, but I'm not. I'm in some ruins./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"At first, I panic, but then I begin to recognize where I am. This is the old Nintendo building, I've dug through the ruins here many times./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a sigh, I decide to stay out here a little longer before I head home. It'll be good to have a bit of a breather from everything before I go see how things are going, now that the World Government has suddenly quit existing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pulling out my handheld supercomputer, I go to the 'photos' section. I got a picture with each of the different groups of heroes before I left. Of course, I'm not going to show them to anyone. Nintendo World's going to be my little secret. I have a feeling the characters emreally/em wouldn't like it if tons of visitors started showing up./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I'm smiling as I look back through the photos, when all of a sudden I hear a 'bing.' You know, the kind of noise a device makes when its battery is low. I look at my handheld supercomputer. I charged it less than two months ago, I should still have at least half-battery. I do, so what's complaining about needing some juice?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The 'bing' sounds again, and I get up to look around, bonking my elbow on something in the process. "Ow," I hiss, turning to glare at whatever inanimate object just hurt me. And then, my heart stops for a moment./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Right next to where I was sitting, there is a yellow, star-shaped, console-like box. I pick it up carefully and look at it. It's just like a video game console, except there's no place to put in a disk or cartridge. I look at it closer, until I see something hastily scribbled on it, in Japanese, with a black permanent marker:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongfont face="Nimbus Mono L, monospace"span lang="zh-CN"任天堂 ワルド/span/font/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I don't know how to read the first part, since it's in kanji, but the second part I quickly translate, since it's in katakana, which I taught myself (along with hiragana) around a year ago. "'Warudo,' world." That's enough for me to guess the rest./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It says, "Nintendo World."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I'm not sure what to feel. That whole world, that whole galaxy, even; is inside this box that I hold. A box that I was inside of, as a file, until Rose sent me home. It makes some sense, though. Only in a computer could 'magic' actually exist and work./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It 'bings' yet again, and I know what I'm feeling now. Panic. This whole world has been running on one battery for the past eight hundred-some years, no wonder it's almost dead. I need to get it a fresh battery, and stat. Or... I don't even want to think about what might happen. What emwould/em happen./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I grab my handheld supercomputer and tell it to teleport me home, hoping that even though the government's collapsed, it'll be able to do that for me. Thank goodness, it can, and moments later, I'm at my front door./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Byte! Where have you been the past several days? You had us worried sick, and then the World Government disappeared, making us begin to think the worst! Do you have any idea what you have put us through, young lady?!" my mom storms the instant I walk in through the door./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm really sorry, Mom, but I don't have time to talk about this right now," I say breathlessly, trying to get around her and into my room./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You had the time to disappear, you can talk to me for a while," she says, calmer now. Human emotion moment is over, apparently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Please, Mom," I beg. "This box is about to emdie/em. I need to get it a new battery, and emnow/em. You could never have any idea how important this is."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The World Government is gone, and you're worried about a box?" my father joins the conversation incredulously, appearing from the hallway. "Just let it die, you can give it a battery later."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And what? Make their whole universe start over again, from the very beginning? Or even worse, not come back at all?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry, to both of you. But you know I'm usually respectful and stuff. Please, trust me. I need to put a new battery in this box, and then we can talk," I plead, tears actually coming into my eyes. I never cry. I'm always sarcastic, or I just close in on myself. I emnever/em cry./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"My parents are taken aback enough by my show of emotion to let me dash between them, back to my room. Once in there, I am relieved to be able to shut the door and get to work, without a nosy computer asking me what I'm doing. I'd be ecstatic, but I'm too busy frantically looking for the battery pack on this thing./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"'Bing,' it goes again, sounding more desperate now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I know, I know," I reply tersely, still looking it over. Finding a place where it can be plugged into something, at least; I grump, "Would be nice if you could help me, or something!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I leap up and run to my closet, digging around for an appropriate cord. Thankfully, I thought ahead months ago and found all sorts of old cords and tested them, in case I'd ever be able to bring my games home. This isn't quite what I had had in mind when I prepared for that sort of situation, though./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With an exhale of relief, I plug the star into my little power box in the corner of my bedroom floor. It stops binging, but it still needs an actual battery. Now that panic isn't blinding me, I'm able to find the battery cover and take out the old batteries. AA's? How in the world did it last over eight hundred years on derping AA's? Maybe magic emis/em real, after all./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Oh, yeah, that's emreal/em believable, Byte. And maybe you're a talking pony. It makes about as much sense./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After putting the modern size-equivalent of AA's in, (that should last it a millennia or so,) I unplug the box and put it in the top of my closet, where it will be safe./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"How's that for mindblowing? I have a whole galaxy, maybe more, in my emcloset/em. This feels like a book series I read (but wasn't supposed to) called the "Chronicles of Narnia." But in my opinion, Nintendo World is way cooler than Narnia. Although, Narnia is also really awesome. But I'm getting off topic./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I go out and talk to my parents, and they explain how no one can come up with solutions to the sudden problems not having a government has brought. That's the problem with everyone being almost completely without imagination: no one can think past what they've always known. No one can brainstorm solutions./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But I can./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The next morning, I go to the World Government headquarters block, which is in the New York division of the megacity of America. Once there, I ask for Cyber, hoping that she's still here./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Sure enough, they bring her out to me. The second she sees the grin on my face, she realizes that it was me who saved the world. She asks me eagerly how I got to the Other Dimension, I just tell her that it's not worth talking about. Thankfully, she notices the look on my face and lets it drop./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, things get complicated. I've gone from being the 'virus' among the 'programs' to being the 'firewall;' and, all of a sudden, I'm precious. Everyone needs my advice, everyone needs my ideas. It's crazy, especially seeing as how I'm just a teenager. I hardly have time to even rest for several weeks, much less sit down to play a game./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"But finally, things get worked out. People will start being the doctors, the teachers, the officials again. Robots are suddenly almost (but not quite) obsolete. Funny, isn't it? Robots were looked to as the future for so long, and now they're the past. Humans are the future, which is the way it should be, if I do say so myself. Which, I just did./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"A new government's been set up, one that's run by the people, for the people. Sounds a lot nicer than 'by the computer, for the computer,' doesn't it? I'm sure it'll end up corrupted someday, but then, every government does. Someone brave always shows up and fixes things, eventually./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Grownups take things over, I'm allowed to go home. After going to bed at three in the afternoon and sleeping for almost a whole day straight, I get up and enjoy being around my parents for awhile. They, like everyone else, are still trying to get used to not having to live life the 'efficient' way anymore. It's also taking people awhile to get used to being allowed to go Outside again./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"To my excitement, I learn my parents are seriously discussing building a house in the Outside for us to live in. That would be wonderful, to be able to have a real window open as I fall asleep, a real fresh breeze stirring the curtains instead of an air-conditioner, real moonlight pouring in and covering the room in a soft light. To be able to wake up and walk right Outside, to see the sky and the sun and the grass and the emlife/em./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The next morning, we all three go for a walk Outside. I show my parents my gamer's cave, they're actually quite impressed by it, but leave to keep walking soon after. I feel sad again, remembering the poor Dreamland characters. I switch on the TV, and to my amazement, it just shows a typical 'game over' screen. I hit 'continue,' and Master Hand comes and flicks Kirby, Meta Knight, Bandana Dee, and Keeby back onto the playing field. The level's reset, I have three lives. So when I destroyed Tedium, they came back after all. Thank goodness! I laugh, slightly crazily, in relief./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I try speaking to them in Morse code, but the only one who seems to show any response is Kirby, who just looks at the screen with a confused "Poyo?"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I would just write it off as a random occurrence, except for the way Meta Knight seems to glare at Kirby as soon as he's acknowledged me. So, that's how it is. Well, fine. I love you, too, Meta Grump./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I play another level or two, everything's back to normal. The silhouette character never shows up again, so I assume she was a glitch put in there to help save the world from Tedium, or something./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, I turn off the game and gather all my consoles and things. I'm taking them home with me. I've got a lot of work to do./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Imagination-less people need someone to teach them how to have an imagination again. And a girl with so many ideas for new games needs an outlet. It all works together, right? Within a few days, I have a new game ready, ready to be replicated (along with the Wii console) and sent out into the world. A game with the shortest credits ever: 'Programmed by Byte Sakurai.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"What's the name of the game, you ask? 'Nintendo World.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*****************************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emDreamland, Year 835:/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSakura's POV/em:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""And so, we got back on the ship. And then, Rose just magically sent us home. And then, she pulled the planet apart again. Right, Meta Knight?" Kirby eagerly finishes this ridiculous story. I miss when he used to say 'poyo' all the time, but everyone's gotta grow up, eventually./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It's a chilly winter's day, rain is pouring outside, leaving snaky streaks down all of the secret library's windows. Well, I guess I should say 'winter's night,' cause we've been here for hours, now./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"It all started this afternoon, when Kirby started telling me a story about Planet Popstar being bigger than it actually is. It sure is convenient how it got pulled apart at the end, isn't it? I, of course, wrote it off as Kirby just being Kirby; until Meta appeared from behind a bookshelf and started agreeing with him, occasionally politely interrupting to correct him or add details./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Bandana's been here the whole time, too, and he and I keep sharing incredulous looks. I mean, I'd expect emKirby/em to make something up like this, but it's emnot/em like Meta to tell stories. And they both seem like they really believe it, even telling me to talk to Sailor Dee about it if I don't believe them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Well, Kirby, it was a cute story," I sigh and try to adjust the curtain-blanket so it fits me and the two boys better. They're getting so big, Bandana's almost a full-sized Waddle Dee, and Kirby's getting awful close to being as tall as I am. Much to Meta Knight's consternation, we've begun to realize that Kirby might end up even being just a bit taller than him, someday./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It was not just a story, Sakura. It is the truth. You, of all people, should know that I do not make up fairytales," Meta Knight huffs, drawing his cloak around himself from where he stands in front of a bookcase, back turned towards us, several feet away. He's acting disinterested, but I have feeling that's the opposite of how he actually feels about the matter./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""But how am I supposed to believe this? Elves? Manga-heads? Italian plumbers? What's 'Italian' even mean, anyway?" I demand in a teasing tone./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I think it's from the language of the Ancients, and means 'really good food,'" Kirby explains, rubbing his tummy in typical Kirby fashion./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""It does not," Meta Knight disagrees simply, offering no further clarification./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""All right, all right. So the impossible story is true," I agree, just to end the discussion. It's ridiculous. "You two need to go to bed," I shoo the boys off./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a groan from one and a sigh of 'dwee' from the other, they leave, after each giving me a hug. They only do anymore because I make them, they're getting too 'old' to show affection, Bandana especially./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"As soon as they've left, Meta pulls a hard-bound, brown, aged book off a shelf and hands it to me. "I know it is hard to believe, but it is the truth. This book explains it all," he tells me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I smile a little and accept it, knowing that he would never tell me lies like that. He really believes it really happened, so I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt. "Good night, Meta."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"His eyes glow an amused light green as he looks at me, just like they do so much of the time. I seriously don't know why he finds me so amusing, especially when I'm not doing anything funny. I don't really mind, though. "Sleep well, Sakura." He turns and leaves, making the majority of the light in the room disappear, except for a soft sphere around me./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a sigh, I open the book. It's in the language of the Ancients, not much of a surprise. I read through it, and according to this book and the drawings in it, the world really emwas/em bigger originally, and again for a while more recently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Light starts to filter through the windows eventually, and with a sigh, I realize that once again, I've read through the whole night. I seriously need to stop doing that, it's just so hard not to, especially when the book is this fascinating. I know Meta Knight does the same thing, sometimes. I just wonder how he does it without seeming exhausted in the morning, like I do right now. I probably look more like a zombie than Escargoon and DeDeDe did all those years ago./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I finish the last bit of the book, now convinced that maybe Meta Knight was right. I go to close the pages. But then I see, out of the corner of my eye, the Ancients' character for my name scribbled on the inside of the back cover:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"strongfont face="Nimbus Mono L, monospace"span lang="zh-CN"桜/span/font/strong/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""What is my name doing in this book?" I murmur, then begin to read the note it's written in. It claims to be from Princess Baika, someone who was quite a prevalent character in Meta Knight and Kirby's tale. It basically says that it's my turn to join the story. But how? According to the others, the story ended years ago. It says that I'm supposed to give someone known as a 'Human' a 'password:' "The hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"At the bottom of the page, there's a spell. If the Princess is a goodguy, why is there a spell? Doesn't she know that dark magic is bad? Or does she somehow expect me to know light magic, like she seemed to?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"My dark side, though, is tempted. It pushes at me, wanting me to speak the words. Finally, I give in, indulging it for the first time in a very, very long time./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I let a dark cloud form around my hands as I pull Dark energy out of the air, for the first time in years, only the second time in my whole life, as I begin to excitedly whisper the words. When I think I hear footsteps, I jump and the partially-completed spell collapses, leaving a dark cloud that sputters out with an irritated hiss./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"There's nothing there, I realize. I'm just getting jumpy. With a deep breath, I start over. I love the feeling I get when I start to try a spell, even though I know it's wrong. It's a feeling of power. And who doesn't like to feel powerful?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With dark magic, if I ever let myself, I could do practically anything. I know hundreds of spells, I've just never let myself actually use any of them./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"This time, I finish the spell, noticing as I look into a foggy window directly in front of me that my eyes are glowing a dull red. That's not too much of a surprise, it'll wear off pretty quick, I think./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I look around me, thinking there'll be a portal or something, but instead, the dark cloud I made rushes at me, engulfing me as I squeak in surprise. And then, it all goes black./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"******************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Wh-where am I?" I stutter, blinking my eyes slowly open. I don't recognize this place at all, it's dark and empty, but it's not between dimensions. I have no idea where in Dreamland I am. I have no idea if I'm even in Dreamland, anymore./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I realize that I'm not alone. There's Kirby, and Meta Knight, and Bandana Dee, but they're all just standing there. Frozen, almost. It's weird. Suddenly, Kirby walks over to Meta Knight, and they speak for a moment, before Kirby resumes his original spot./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I walk over to all three of them in turn, but it's like they can't see me. I look at myself as best I can with a frown. Squawking a bit, I see that the dark magic has coated me, turning me into a silhouette. Well, just peachy. Hopefully that's temporary./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, the world lights up, and music starts playing. Well, that's kind of creepy. Meta Knight nods at the two little ones, and they run onto a sort of stage, playing out a scene of sorts. I recognize when we are instantly, they're about to go find the Monstrous Lightning. And without me. Well, hmph./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, after they've finished playing out their little skit, I'm also pulled 'onstage.' "Na-nani?" (Wh-what?) I squeak, in a voice not my own. Why did my voice change? Why am I speaking the language of the Ancients?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Things just keep getting weirder. I'm no longer in control of my own actions or the things I say. Some of the time, I'm forced to jump and fly around, fighting monsters; and others, I just follow one of the other three. They never acknowledge me, or each other./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Every so often, they do another skit, and I'm dragged back offstage until they're done. Until, at one point, when Meta Knight flies straight into a Gordo, while us other three follow him down below. That's not like him at all. He flips around and disappears for a second while a cheerful jingle plays, then reappears. But then, the sky grows dark, and a creepy voice starts going on about how he has finally been 'released.' That doesn't sound good. It sounds like the badguy in the story from earlier./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Then, I get a terrible, sinking feeling. This is one of the 'games' that Meta and Kirby mentioned, isn't it? I'm trapped inside a emgame/em. Oh, Shotzo. How am I ever going to get home? How am I ever going to get to be myself again, to be able to control my life again? I am terrified./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I start to panic, then find I am trapped in some sort of invisible force-field. I can't move. Meta Knight is also struggling, showing some sign of being sentient for pretty much the first time all day. I try to say something encouraging, but my voice is still not my own. I am not at all in control./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"This is this opposite of feeling powerful. This is feeling helpless. Especially helpless, as monsters keep running into me and I feel myself grow tired and weak, unable to resist them in any way./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, Meta Knight begins to speak to someone, calling them the 'Player.' Oh, great, so there's someone actually out there who thought it would be funny to fly him straight into a Gordo, huh? If I was out there, my sword wouldn't just be peacefully sheathed like it is at the moment, that's for sure./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Suddenly, I actually begin to pay attention to what Meta Knight is saying, as if I'm forced to. "Password?" he's murmuring, as he's looking blankly out into the distance./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I have a feeling that's my cue. With everything I've got, I manage to sputter out, still not in my voice, "Password? Password: the hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Do I know you? I do not believe we have ever met," Meta Knight looks at me quizzically. Well, that didn't hurt at all. I mean, it's not like I'm the one that trained you, that saved your life multiple times, and that you've saved multiple times, or anything. Nope, didn't hurt a bit./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""The hall of entrusting heaven is elsewhere," I repeat, and then a Grizzo slams into me at full-force./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"My eyes drift shut as the happy jingle plays again, and I am spun around and dropped 'offstage.'/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"***************************************************************/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"My eyes fly open, and I gasp for air as I bolt to my feet, drawing my sword. I'm back in the secret library, everything's back to normal. Breathe, Sakura. It's all right. Sheath your sword, nothing to fight here. Oh, goodness, it is so good to have control back./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hello," I say softly, speaking to the air. Good, my voice is my own again, too./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"What emwas/em that? Why did I have a nightmare? Oh, Shotzo, something's wrong with the Fountain of Dreams, I'll bet. But then, I see that I was lying on the floor in front of one of the window seats. And up on the window seat is that brown book that I was reading all night./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Looking into the window, I see that my color has returned, and also, that there's still just the tiniest hint of red in my eyes, although it's fading fast. So, it all actually happened, apparently./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Wobbly, I stand back up and pick it up, returning it to its shelf. Maybe the story is true, after all. Maybe that's the part I had to play. But boy, was it scary./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Something tells me it might've been better if I hadn't used the dark magic. But like I said earlier, that's all I know. I know, I know, bad Sakura. But I won't use dark magic again, I promise. And one tiny, little spell never hurt anyone. Right?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"With a sigh, I climb into the window seat and curl up in my curtain-blanket. I'll just rest for awhile, maybe an hour or two, to make up for the all-nighter./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Well, maybe now the story is over. And then again, maybe it's not. Who knows? You never can tell, not when you live on Planet Popstar, no matter how big it currently is./p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"And so, I'll end this the way that seems best to end any tale:/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emThe End?/em/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emSakura promised she wouldn't use Dark magic again, but promises are hard to keep, and temptation hard to resist. Can she be saved from herself? The story of Kirby, Meta Knight, Sakura, and Bandana Dee continues in "Heroes of Dreamland, Book 4: Kirby and the Heroes' Destinies!"/em/p 


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